Trump's Greenland Bid Stirs Debate in China About What To Do With Taiwan

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By Reuters

For years, the U.S. government has urged China to show “restraint” in pushing its claim on Taiwan and to drop military threats to bring the democratically governed island under its control.

Now – some Chinese commentators say – the power of that long-held U.S. message has been undermined by the threats by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, by force if necessary. Trump takes office on Jan. 20 2025.

The implications of Trump’s comments for U.S. policy on Taiwan have been widely discussed on China’s social media platforms in recent days and by foreign policy analysts.

While nothing in the military standoff over Taiwan is likely to change in the near-term, some say Trump’s break with the norms of American diplomacy could create an opening for China.

One Chinese expert said Trump’s first term in office signalled that he views foreign policy as transactional in nature, and suggested he may be amenable to a deal on Taiwan.

Zhao Minghao, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at the Fudan University in Shanghai, said Trump’s threats to take Greenland, the Panama Canal and even Canada needed to be taken seriously.

“Besides that, we need to think about Trump’s transactionalism, which he is serious about as well. Many in China still perceive Trump as a deal-maker, even on very tough issues like the Taiwan question,” he said.

China’s foreign ministry said it was “absurd” to try and link Greenland’s status to Taiwan.

“The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese matter, and how to resolve it is something for the Chinese people,” it said in a statement.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry, asked whether Trump’s comments could provide impetus to China creating trouble over Taiwan, said that the Republic of China, the island’s official name, is a “sovereign and independent country”.

“Any distortion of Taiwan’s sovereign status will not change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has maintained that Taiwan is part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

A limiting factor for Beijing is that the U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, although whether U.S. forces would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of a war with China is unclear under a policy of “strategic ambiguity.”