Trump not retreating on Taiwan stance despite tone shift, defence Minister Richard Marles says

Defence Minister Richard Marles says he believes the Trump administration remains committed to the security of Taiwan.

Two major security documents issued by the Trump administration set out what has been described as the softest tone toward China from the United States in nearly a decade.

The National Defence Strategy, recently issued by the Pentagon, said that the US did not seek to dominate, humiliate, strangle, contain or constrain China.

It said that the US wanted a stable and decent peace instead.

The document did not mention Taiwan by name but said it would deter China through strength, including through the “strong denial defence along the First Island Chain”.

The First Island Chain includes Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Asked during an extended interview with the Latika Takes podcast, if he believed the new language constituted a retreat by the Trump administration in the United States’ stance on Taiwan, Mr Marles said: “I don’t, no.”

Mr Marles was speaking after appearing on a panel at the Munich Security Conference in Bavaria, Germany, alongside the Pentagon’s number two, Elbridge Colby.

“We’ve been very consistent about our position on Taiwan and obviously and indeed Bridge Colby was very consistent in his answers today and his answers were fundamentally right and it’s going to be the same,” he said.

“I mean, it is a very sensitive matter. We do not wanna see a unilateral alteration to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. That is fundamentally where Australia lies.

“And it is very important we see going forward in terms of the peace and security of the region in which we live, that the status quo is maintained.

“We continue to express that, the countries of the region continue to express that.”

Mr Colby said of his thinking about deterrence regarding Taiwan: “I have nothing to say in terms of any policy change or position or emphasis even on the issue of Taiwan.”

“Our president is actually quite consistent with our traditional position. We understand that people look at these public documents very carefully.

“We measure our words carefully, as I said earlier, and obviously the president is our spokesman on anything, but certainly on matters of great sensitivity. We have hewed closely to our position, and we’re focused on our position in the Western Pacific, but we’re seeking stability.”

Ely Ratner, who advised former President Joe Biden on the Indo-Pacific told the Lowy Institute in Sydney that Mr Trump had created questions for allies about the US’s credibility and reliability.

“On the China account, interestingly (there is) a probably correct perception that the Trump administration has softened its approach to China and what implications does that have for countries who are considering their own security, their own approach to the region, their relationship with Beijing and their defence postures,” Mr Ratner said.

“There are big question marks around whether President Trump himself or the administration is going to be considering any kind of concessions on Taiwan policy.

“From most indications, there is not, as I understand it, deep work being done on some kind of grand bargain … between the United States and China that would set out a very ambitious new understanding around the Taiwan question.

“But there may be particular issues associated with US declaratory policy that may be in play, and obviously, once President Trump’s in the room with Xi Jinping, anything’s possible.“

China’s President has ordered his military to be ready to take control of self-governing, democratic Taiwan by next year.

Malaysia’s National Security Advisor Nushirwan Zainal Abidin told a side event at Munich moderated by The Nightly that China’s reunification with Taiwan was “inevitable”, it was just a matter of the terms.

When asked if there were any terms that would be acceptable to the US and China, he said he did not know.

‘Strategic reassurance needed on Taiwan’

Mr Marles said he had asked China for “strategic reassurance” about why it was embarking on its huge military build-up.

“China hasn’t given an explanation for why it’s engaging in the biggest conventional military buildup that we’ve seen since the Second World War.

“And without that explanation, it becomes a matter of disquiet for its neighbours and for countries around the world.

“Military buildups require resources and effort and are done for reasons. And it is important that countries are transparent about what those reasons are.

“We’ve raised it directly with China.”

New analysis conducted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies found that China had outpaced the United States in terms of producing nuclear-powered submarines.

“During the recent period, China, for the first time, launched more boats than the United States, with a greater combined tonnage,” the IISS report said.

“While Chinese designs almost certainly lag behind US and European boats in terms of quality, the greater numbers in the water present a growing challenge to those countries as they struggle to increase their own output.”

However, Mr Marles declined to state if he believed that China posed the greatest security threat to Australia.

“I’m not gonna go into a kind of an assessment of ranking these things, but I’ve spoken about its significance, and it is very much a part of the landscape that we face.”