Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize if he convinces Chinese president Xi Jinping to abandon his military plans against Taiwan, the self-governed island’s president said.
Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te warned the US president – who is seeking a Nobel Peace Prize and has nominated himself for it as he claims to have ended “seven un-endable wars” – that a China takeover of Taiwan would threaten the US too.
Mr Trump said he deserved the top peace prize already given to four of his White House predecessors.
The Taiwanese president, who China brands as separatist, said he hoped that the democratic island will continue to enjoy the support of Mr Trump.
“I noticed that US president Donald Trump once said publicly that [Chinese president] Xi Jinping actually called him and stated that he would not attack Taiwan during President Trump’s term in office,” Mr Lai told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
“If he is able to convince Xi Jinping to permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, president Trump will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize,” Mr Lai said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary and has repeatedly carried out military drills in the Taiwan Strait to intimidate its smaller neighbour. Mr Xi, in his New Year address this year, said that China’s unification with Taiwan was inevitable and could not be blocked by outside forces, in a likely reference to Taiwan’s most important ally – the US.
Despite the absence of formal ties, the US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and expected to come to its rescue with military aid in the event of an escalation from China. However, Mr Trump has not announced any new arms sales to the island after entering the White House earlier this year.
The US president is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart later this month at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in South Korea.
On being asked what advice would he give the US president if he were to meet him, Mr Lai said he would direct Mr Trump’s attention to China’s actions.
“I would advise him to pay particular attention to the fact that Xi Jinping is not only conducting increasingly large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, but is also expanding military forces in the East China Sea and South China Sea,” the Taiwanese president said.
He warned that China is ramping up its military activities against Taiwan, and the challenge of this extends beyond Taiwan.
“The challenge extends beyond merely annexing Taiwan. Once Taiwan is annexed, China will gain greater strength to compete with the United States on the international stage, undermining the rules-based international order,” he said.
“Ultimately, this will also impact US homeland interests. Therefore, I hope President Trump will continue to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and has long stuck to a policy of “strategic ambiguity” not making clear whether it would respond militarily to a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Mr Lai rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
Taiwan, along with major Western allies, has worked to address Washington’s concerns that it is not spending enough on its own defence. Mr Lai has set a target of defence spending to reach 5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.
“Our defence spending, as defined by Nato, will reach 3.32 per cent of GDP next year. And this will increase to 5 per cent of GDP by 2030,” he said in the radio interview.
Mr Lai said the island nation is “absolutely determined to safeguard its national security”.
Former US presidents Woodrow Wilson (1920), Jimmy Carter (2002), Barack Obama (2009), and US vice president Al Gore (2007), have so far received the coveted prize.
