Trump: "China does not want to invade Taiwan"

Dismisses possibility of war during meeting with Australian prime minister

U.S. President Donald Trump (photo) on the 20th (local time) dismissed the possibility of China's invasion of Taiwan, saying, "China does not want to do that."

After holding talks at the White House with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, President Trump was asked by reporters whether AUKUS (AUKUS, the U.S.-U.K.-Australia security alliance) could serve as a deterrent to China in the Indo-Pacific amid concerns about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2027. He replied, "Yes," and added, "But I don't think we will need that (to deter China through AUKUS)."

President Trump said, "Above all, the United States is the country with the most powerful military in the world, incomparable to anyone. We have the best equipment and are the best in every respect," and added, "No one would dare to confront that." He also said, "I do not at all see such a thing happening with President Xi," and said, "I think we will be able to get along very well on issues such as Taiwan."

He added, "That does not mean Taiwan is not 'the apple of his eye' (the apple of his eye) to him. It probably is. But I don't think anything will happen." In an interview with Fox News last August, President Trump also claimed that President Xi had said China would not invade Taiwan during his term.

China has been rapidly expanding its military capabilities and conducting increasingly sophisticated military exercises around Taiwan. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that President Xi instructed the military to be prepared to attack Taiwan by 2027.

Regarding Israel's temporary airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which Israel said were in response to violations of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas, President Trump said, "For the first time in history we reached an agreement with Hamas, and they will act properly and behave," warning, "If not, we will go in and eradicate them."

He said he did not think the violations would be carried out by the "Hamas leadership," but added, "If they continue to do so, we will go in and correct it, and it will, unfortunately, be done very quickly and quite violently." He reiterated, "Hamas has been very violent, but now it no longer receives support from Iran. In fact, it receives support from no one now," and said, "They must behave."

On the Russia-Ukraine war, he said, "We are in the process of trying to reach an agreement," and warned, "If no agreement is reached, many people will pay a heavy price." On the possibility of Ukraine defeating Russia, he said, "I don't think they will win, but they still might. I never said they would definitely win. I only said they could."

This was interpreted as somewhat different in tone from his remark at the end of last month that "Ukraine could not only recover its territory in its original form but, who knows, maybe even more."

An Hyewon, Hankyung.com reporter anhw@hankyung.com