TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Donald Trump Jr. announced on social media on Thursday (April 9) that he agrees with a proposal the U.S. should formally recognize Taiwan as a country.
As anger and resentment build in the U.S. over China's cover up of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its attempt to blame the U.S., conservative political columnist Benny Johnson posted a tweet on Thursday in which he proposed the U.S. recognize Taiwan after the coronavirus pandemic ends. Later that same day, Trump shared the post on his Facebook page and expressed his support for the proposal.
Johnson wrote that after the demise of the "China Virus," a term President Donald Trump coined, the U.S. should immediately set out to recognize Taiwan. It should also place tariffs on Chinese-made goods to pay for a virus relief fund, repatriate manufacturing and pharmaceutical production, provide a tax break for businesses that leave China, invest in India's economy, and deduct money spent on fighting the virus from the country's debt to China.
Trump took a screenshot of the tweet and posted it on his Facebook page with the simple caption, "I agree. Who is with me?" Within 12 hours, the post received 54,000 likes, 5,500 comments, and 11,000 shares.
After China Virus dies, US should immediately:
-Recognize Taiwan
- Tariff Chinese goods for Virus Relief Fund
-Repatriate manufacturing & medicine production
-Give tax break to businesses to leave China
-Economically invest in India
-Deduct $ spent on virus from China Debt
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) April 9, 2020
The most liked comment stated that every country should be self-sufficient when it comes to producing medical supplies, as well as many other daily necessities. The Facebook follower added that it is "almost embarrassing" how dependent the U.S. has become on a country that "does not share our values and principles."
A fan of Trump Jr. wrote that when investment in foreign countries is necessary, it should be focused on America's neighbors, such as Mexico in Central America, which he felt would alleviate illegal immigration. He wrote the country should "have never outsourced everything to China," and must bring as many jobs back to the U.S. as possible.
As for the response among Taiwanese, a user of the r/taiwan subreddit was of the opinion the U.S. Democratic party has a weaker track record when it comes to supporting Taiwan:
"I'm fine with Trump. Democrats ignore us. U.S. Taiwan relations are at an all time high under Trump. That is a fact for you Democrats who I see consistently suck up to China. I watched Democrats give Trump a hard time when he took the call from Tsai, it opened up my eyes that they just hate Trump and would throw Taiwan under the bus to get rid of him."
A foreign user commented the Trumps are "disgustingly selfish" and are mainly using Taiwan as a pawn, which they would jettison when "no longer convenient." In response, another Taiwanese citizen acknowledged that this could be the case, but found it preferable to even less support from the Democrats:
"It'll be great if Democrats could also support our sovereignty because we share a lot of the liberal/progressive values, but judging by the way the Democratic Party's fundraising usually goes it's hard for me to be optimistic about their support."
