Taiwan's representative to U.S. says "we're not the ones creating all this trouble" with China

[0:00] We turn now to Ambassador Alexander Yu, Taiwan's representative to the United States. [0:05] Ambassador, good to have you here in person. [0:08] There hasn't been a call between an American president and a leader of Taiwan since 1979. [0:16] But President Trump indicated to reporters there might be one coming. [0:20] Is there a call planned with President Lai? [0:23] Well, we'll see. [0:27] But President Trump, when he was in Beijing for the last two days, he mentioned that he heard a lot about Taiwan. [0:39] He heard a lot about Taiwan these two days in Beijing. [0:41] But the problem is he heard only their side of the story. [0:46] He heard the Chinese story, or as I would say in Spanish, el cuento chino. [0:51] I think if he has time, we'd love to tell him our side of the story, the Taiwan story, which is one of resiliency, of staying up against the Chinese aggression. [1:06] This has been going on for 77 years. [1:08] This is not something that just happened when the DPP, their current ruling party in Taiwan, came to power. [1:13] This has been going on for 77 years, since the inception of 1949, when they became a People's Republic. [1:20] So this is not a recent thing, as if we are the ones creating problems. [1:25] It's China, People's Republic of China, creating all this problem. [1:28] So no call is scheduled yet. [1:29] Well, the communication between Taiwan and the U.S. is constant, is current. [1:37] But I'll leave it to the U.S. to announce anything if it happens. [1:42] It would be a big deal. [1:42] You did speak to a past president as president-elect. [1:45] Yes, with President Tsai, yeah, in 2015, 16. [1:49] That's right. [1:50] So China refers to your president as a separatist, in part because Lai has talked about being a, quote, [1:56] practical worker for Taiwan independence. [1:59] In an interview with Fox News, President Trump said he's not looking to have somebody say, [2:04] let's go be independent because the United States is backing us. [2:08] Does Taiwan have any intention of declaring independence formally from China? [2:12] Well, let me first say that President Trump and Secretary Rubio have been very categorical during their visit to Beijing, [2:22] publicly stating that there's no change in the United States' longstanding position in Taiwan, [2:26] which we want to express our appreciation for upholding this position. [2:31] What is meant by Taiwan independence, my president just made a statement recently, just now. [2:38] And it means that Taiwan is independent from the Chinese aggression, from the PRC, actually. [2:46] The formal name of my country is Republic of China, and we're not subordinate to the people of Republic of China in any way at all. [2:54] And that's maintaining our sovereignty, our way of life, our democracy, our vibrant economy, our high-tech production. [3:02] And that is what is mean by independence. [3:05] We are sovereign, independent, away from the Chinese people's Republic of China's attempt to swallow us as one of their own. [3:14] They have never ruled or controlled Taiwan ever. [3:17] Yeah. [3:18] So that is meant by independence. [3:21] President Trump, though, said he wants Taiwan to cool it. [3:25] He also wanted China to cool it. [3:26] That seems to indicate that perhaps he was listening to Xi Jinping's version of events and might have been persuaded? [3:34] Well, that's why I, you know, if we'd love to, given our part of the story, you know, not just listen to cuentos chinos. [3:42] But I think that's a statement of saying he wants status quo, President Trump, that he wants no change in the Taiwan Straits, [3:57] neither through economic or military coercion, and that the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits is good for all parties concerned. [4:05] And that's the position that Secretary Rubio mentioned during his interview, and that's the one that we also long for. [4:11] We have been a responsible member of Taiwan Straits. [4:16] We want to strive for peace and stability. [4:19] You know, President Trump doesn't want a war 9,500 miles away. [4:22] We don't want a war. [4:23] We want peace and stability. [4:25] We want to have our lives going on as usual. [4:28] But we're not the ones creating all this trouble. [4:31] And that's why, you know, it's like we, our house, there's intruders trying to get into our house. [4:38] We're trying to befall our security system. [4:39] And then they complain, the intruder complains, that because we're trying to improve our security system, it's making his job harder. [4:49] Right. [4:51] No, I hear your point. [4:53] And on paper, President Trump's administration has pledged near record amounts of defensive weapons and sales to Taiwan. [5:02] But the deliveries haven't really been happening. [5:05] And in Beijing, President Trump told Fox he's going to hold on to the latest weapons sale that Taiwan sought to purchase this year and use it as a negotiating chip with China. [5:14] What impact will that have on your ability to deter China if you don't get those weapons? [5:19] Well, exactly. [5:21] If we don't, if we want to prevent a war from happening, I think it's best that Taiwan is strong, able to defend itself. [5:31] And therefore, we should be able to acquire, to buy the arms that we need to have a stronger defense. [5:37] You know, we are also abide, we believe in peace through strength. [5:41] So, actually, it makes more sense for the United States to sell us the arms so we can defend ourselves, so you don't have to send your army 9,500 miles away to defend us. [5:54] Well, the so-called six assurances that the United States gave to Taiwan back in the Reagan area included a pledge not to cut off arms sales to Taiwan and of no prior consultation with Beijing on such sales. [6:08] But this is what the president told reporters about his discussion with Xi. [6:12] Take a listen. [6:13] So what am I going to do? [6:14] I don't want to talk to you about it because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982. [6:19] No, we discussed arms sales to— [6:22] And what's his request? [6:24] We discussed to Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arms sales. [6:27] It was in great detail, actually. [6:30] And I'll be making decisions. [6:32] In great detail. [6:34] Did that violate America's commitment to Taiwan? [6:36] Well, again, but President Trump has also been very clear in saying that he did not agree on anything that the Chinese side— [6:45] But he did say he was going to hold on to those weapons and not give them to them. [6:47] Yeah, but he didn't say he agreed to anything. [6:49] So, again, the United States government has been consistent throughout all administrations since 1979 in providing arms to Taiwan, [6:58] according to the Taiwan Relations Act, which is selling ours commensurate to the threat that Taiwan receives. [7:05] And past administrations, including President Trump's first term, made considerable amounts of sales, including the F-16 box 70s. [7:13] And also, in his second administration last year, he made two sales to Taiwan. [7:18] And also, again, the last one, also a very considerable amount of money on arms sales. [7:22] So, we believe, again, that having arms sales continue to Taiwan is in the interest of the United States and Taiwan to keep peaceful and stable Taiwan Straits. [7:34] Well, we will try to ask the administration for updates on when those deliveries might happen. [7:38] But thank you very much, Ambassador. [7:41] Face the Nation will be back in a minute. [7:42] Stay with us. [7:42] Thank you very much.