Taiwan’s leader William Lai: We want to help make America great again

TAIWAN: William Lai Ching-te, the leader of Taiwan, echoed the now-famous, if rather controversial, words of United States President Donald Trump when he said recently that Taiwan wants “to help make America great again.”

Dr Lai, who began his term last year, said this during an interview with the American conservative political commentator and talk show host Buck Sexton. The interview on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show was published on Oct 6.

The talk show host had gone to Taiwan on a weeklong fact-finding mission, which included speaking to military officials and national security advisors, as well as the interview with Dr Lai.

Their conversation touched on China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and the possibility of an invasion. Dr Lai spoke at length on his Four Pillars of Peace action plan, of which the third pillar is defined as “standing together with the United States and other free and democratic countries to bolster joint deterrence.”

Nevertheless, the Taiwanese leader underlined that “Taiwan is willing to engage in dialogue with China based on parity and dignity.”

Speaking about President Trump, Dr Lai expressed the hope that the US President would continue to support Taiwan, adding that if Mr Trump could convince China’s President Xi Jinping to “permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan,” then the American leader was certain to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which he has long coveted.

However, he made the remarks about “making America great again” in the context of the economic partnership between Taiwan and America, specifically regarding semiconductors.

Mr Sexton had asked about the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the facility TSMC is building in Arizona.

Dr Lai noted that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is just one part of a larger ecosystem around the globe, which includes the United States, Japan, Korea, and the Netherlands for various aspects such as raw materials, equipment, innovation, research and development, design, and manufacturing.

He emphasised, however, that the United States leads this ecosystem.

“Looking ahead, as we face the AI era, every nation in the semiconductor ecosystem will be extremely important, and the United States will continue to lead the world in this. So Taiwan is very willing to work with the United States to achieve this goal.

“We want to help the United States reindustrialise and become a global AI hub. We want the United States to continue to lead the world in this new AI era, and we want to help make America great again,” said Dr Lai.

The full transcript of the interview with the Taiwanese leader may be found here. /TISG

Read also: Taiwanese influencer finds mushrooms growing in air bridge at Changi Airport