Can Taiwan Count on the U.S. if Trump Wins?

Excerpt

The race to curry favor with Donald Trump is leading some Republican foreign-policy experts in disturbing directions. Consider Elbridge Colby, who co-led the Trump administration’s development of its National Defense Strategy and could assume a prominent Pentagon position in a second Trump term. In recent days, Mr. Colby has fired off a flurry of social-media commentary suggesting the U.S. may not come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of Chinese aggression. Or listen to Robert O’Brien, who served as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser and has been mentioned as a potential secretary of state. “We’ve got to have burden sharing,” Mr. O’Brien told reporters last month, urging Taiwan to spend at least 5% of its gross domestic product on defense.

Suggesting Washington may not defend Taiwan if the island doesn’t spend enough on defense is straight out of Mr. Trump’s playbook for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Asked about Mr. Colby’s comments, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NatSec Daily that “official policy will be unveiled by either President Trump or his campaign, nobody else.” That may suggest the campaign considers Mr. Colby’s view a political liability.

Mr. Montgomery is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral. Mr. Bowman is senior director of the foundation’s Center on Military and Political Power. He advised three Republican senators on foreign and defense policy.