Taiwan leader considers trying to call Trump after victory

TAIPEI – Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is considering trying to make a call to Donald Trump after his US election victory, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would likely be seen by Beijing as a sign of Taiwan seeking to assert independence.

This is unlikely to happen soon, as a similar call between former president Tsai Ing-wen and Trump only took place a month after he won the 2016 election, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

It is unclear if Trump would take the call, another person said.

Mr Lai has no plan to arrange a congratulatory call with Trump, the Presidential Office said in a statement on Nov 7, adding that he had asked Taiwan’s representative office in the US to send a congratulatory message to the President-elect and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.

Such a move would provoke China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory that can be retaken by force if necessary. It forbids contact between government heads and Taiwan’s leader, fearing it could imply sovereignty for the self-ruled island. China has used its economic influence to whittle away the number of countries that formally recognise the government in Taipei.

Asked earlier whether Taiwan is seeking to call Trump, Mr Mark Chih-wei Ho, deputy secretary-general to the president, said the government would congratulate Trump on his victory. 

“We will follow the usual practice to contact and congratulate him in the most beautiful and warm way,” he said. 

World leaders congratulated Trump on Nov 6 as he

won the US election

, capping one of the most tumultuous campaigns in modern political history to defeat his Democratic challenger, Ms Kamala Harris.

For China, the election of Trump may mean tariffs of as much as 60 per cent on Chinese goods, a level that Bloomberg Economics says will decimate trade between the world’s biggest economies. That is on top of a range of export controls on advanced technology.

Taiwan will help companies relocate production from China given the likely large impact on them from tariffs incoming Trump has promised to impose on China, Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said on Nov 7.

Taiwanese companies have invested billions of dollars in China over the past four decades, taking advantage of historically lower costs, but Taiwan’s government, wary of stepped-up pressure from Beijing to accept Chinese sovereignty claims, has been encouraging its firms to move investment elsewhere.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Kuo said the impact of any Trump tariffs on China for Taiwanese firms manufacturing there would be “quite large”.

“We will as soon as possible come up with help for Taiwan companies to move their production bases,” he added, without giving details.

The 2016 call between Dr Tsai and Trump lasted for a little more than 10 minutes, and was the first between a Taiwanese leader and an incumbent or incoming US president in about four decades.

In recent days, top Taiwanese officials have made the case that a Trump presidency could bring “more pros than cons”, citing benefits from his proposed technology restrictions on China.

On the campaign trail, Trump said Taiwan stole the US’ chip business and called for the island to pay for US protection. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS