Trump cabinet picks delight Taiwan, send strong signal to China

President-elect Donald Trump's national security picks have so far sent relief to several U.S. allies, one such ally being Taiwan where recent announcements have been met with delight.

Eryk Michael Smith is a Taiwan-based correspondent who since 2007, has worked both as a broadcast journalist for the island's only English-language radio station, ICRT, as well as with numerous other publications and local news outlets. Smith's journalism focuses on Taiwan-China relations, local politics, as well as science and technology developments in the greater China region. He is based in Taiwan's largest southern city, Kaohsiung. He can be followed @ErykSmithTaiwan

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., likely to be tapped to become Trump’s chief diplomat, made his position clear during the Republican National Convention in mid-July, when he said that he expected a re-elected Trump to, "continue to do what he did in his first term and that is … continue to support Taiwan." Rubio, however, has been in lockstep with Trump on insisting Taiwan increase defense spending, a view shared by security experts, but not necessarily the majority of Taiwanese people. 

As of yet, no official statement has come from Taiwanese President William Lai, but in 2019, when Lai was vice president to then-President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its gratitude to Sen. Rubio and former Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., for rejecting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposal (or demand) that Taiwan accept "one country, two systems."