Hsinchu city: U.S. President Donald Trump's silence on Taiwan at last week's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping reflects Trump's desire to use Taiwan as leverage in dealing with Beijing rather than a shift in Washington's Taiwan policy, a scholar said. During a speech at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu City on Monday, Tokyo-based scholar Lim Chuan-tiong highlighted that Trump's lack of a public response to Xi's remarks on Taiwan at the Beijing summit was itself a calculated form of signaling.

According to Focus Taiwan, China's official readout revealed that Xi warned Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to "conflict and confrontation" and push bilateral ties into "a very dangerous situation." Neither the White House summary nor China's more detailed account recorded any substantive response from Trump on Taiwan. Lim described Trump's approach as a "three-noes policy" toward Xi's Taiwan remarks: "no response, no position-taking and no argument." This approach, Lim argued, was not a concession to Beijing but rather a strategic move to prevent China from shaping narratives about U.S. policy.

Lim noted that Trump's comments outside the summit indicated that he still viewed Taiwan as a strategic asset in U.S.-China competition. After the summit, Trump referred to arms sales to Taiwan as "a very good negotiating chip," signaling that he had not conceded Beijing's influence over U.S.-Taiwan military ties. Lim added, "For Trump, Taiwan is not necessarily a values-based partner, but a strategic card," emphasizing that businessmen do not easily discard valuable assets.

Lim also addressed concerns in Taiwan that Trump might "sell out" Taiwan in negotiations with China, arguing that using Taiwan as a bargaining chip does not necessarily equate to sacrificing Taiwan. When asked after the summit about a pending US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan, Trump stated, "I'm holding that in abeyance and it depends on China."

During the forum, Lim outlined Trump's "10 Taiwan cards" - potential measures Washington could use to pressure or negotiate with Beijing without altering its "one China" policy. These measures included allowing Taiwan to participate in the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific military exercise, increasing U.S. military personnel training in Taiwan, permitting U.S. naval vessels to dock in Kaohsiung, and renaming Taiwan's representative office in Washington. Lim stressed that these moves did not necessarily need to be implemented to have a political effect, stating, "The meaning of a card is not that you must use it. Simply showing the card can already have an impact."