Three other recent indicators also suggest that the United States and Taiwan are getting close economically, militarily, and diplomatically.
The Taiwanese army holds a live-fire shooting session for Taiwan's first batch of the advanced U.S.-made M1A2T Abrams tanks, which takes place separately from the annual Han Kuang military exercise, in Hsinchu on July 10, 2025. I-Hwa-Cheng/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump recently told reporters in the Oval Office that whether or not Chinese leader Xi Jinping decides to attack Taiwan is “up to him.” This is, of course, true, but has been spun by the media as Trump backing away from the defense of Taiwan. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Anders Corr
Author
Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc. and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. His latest books are “The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy, and Hegemony” (2021) and “Great Powers, Grand Strategies: the New Game in the South China Sea” (2018).
