Kolas Yotaka is a Taiwanese author and researcher affiliated with the Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI), as well as a former spokesperson for the presidential office under President Tsai Ing-wen, cabinet spokesperson and a member of Taiwan’s parliament. Before entering politics, she spent 15 years working as a journalist. Today, she hosts a weekly podcast focused on democracy, security and disinformation.
The Ukrainian Week spoke with Yotaka in Ukraine a few days ago during a media forum in Lviv, while the China-U.S. summit was underway in Beijing, where some of Donald Trump’s remarks on Taiwan had sparked concern among international observers.
– What are the key takeaways from the latest U.S.-China meeting? While Trump made a series of vague and at times ambiguous remarks, several officials — including House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — have since said the U.S. position on Taiwan remains unchanged. How do you read that?
– In the wake of the U.S.-China summit, Taiwan’s biggest concern is the growing uncertainty surrounding Washington’s position. Public remarks by President Trump have fuelled fears in Taipei that the U.S. approach to Taiwan may be shifting. Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign and independent country, with its own elections, president, military, flag and territory under its control. Yet since the start of “Trump 2.0,” Trump has repeatedly accused Taiwan of having “stolen” the U.S. chip industry, avoided publicly referring to Taiwan as a country and delayed arms sales to Taipei. For many in Taiwan, he has increasingly become a source of uncertainty rather than stability.
– Reagan’s Six Assurances to Taiwan in 1982 and the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act are meant to guarantee Taiwan’s security. Are these two pillars now being tested, or are they simply part of Donald Trump’s negotiating style, shaped by a tendency to provoke reactions?
– Under the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, the United States has not only committed to supplying Taiwan with weapons, it is also not supposed to consult Beijing before making those arms sales. But that long-standing status quo now seems increasingly uncertain. The Trump administration appears to view military support more as a transaction, and that could prove to be a serious miscalculation. Taiwan is on the front line, not only defending itself but also acting as a buffer for the United States and other democracies in the region.
Despite growing pressure from the CCP in recent days, the Trump administration has delayed a previously approved $14 billion arms package for Taiwan. At the same time, Chinese military pressure has only intensified. In 2025 alone, the CCP has sent warplanes toward Taiwan more than 5,000 times. Taiwan needs clear and reliable military backing from Washington to preserve the normal functioning of its democracy. The United States should not walk away from principles it has upheld for decades.
– Which Chinese narratives pose the greatest risk to how Taiwan’s independence is discussed?
– China consistently describes Taiwan as part of China and labels Taiwanese independence as “separatism,” a framing many in Taiwan reject as false. Beijing’s constant threats to use military force over independence are seen as outright aggression and a violation of the right of Taiwan’s 23 million people to decide their own future. Taiwan has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China. The island was briefly under Dutch, Spanish and Qing Dynasty control at different points in its early history, before coming under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. Since then, Taiwan has developed separately, and is not seen in Taiwan as part of Chinese society.
Taiwan’s population is also more diverse than Beijing’s narrative suggests. Alongside ethnic Chinese, the island is home to Indigenous peoples, as well as Southeast Asian immigrants and their descendants. While Chinese migrants began arriving in Taiwan around 400 years ago and many Taiwanese have ancestral ties to China, Taiwan today functions separately from China politically, socially, culturally and economically. From Taipei’s perspective, Beijing should stop insisting that Taiwan is part of China and instead recognise it as a country that deserves equal treatment.
