Ex-NTU head warns Taiwan faces risks from both China and the U.S.

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) Former National Taiwan University (NTU) President Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) has warned that Taiwan faces threats from both the United States and China and cannot allow its future to be controlled by a handful of "extremists" in the government.

Kuan made the remarks Saturday in a speech titled "When a Bull in a China Shop" [sic] -- a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump -- at an event organized by the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

Speaking of Taiwan's current geopolitical situation, Kuan said the country faces risks from the U.S., such as tariffs and the cost of a deal to ease them, shifts in semiconductor supply chains, policy uncertainties, and the U.S. demand that Taiwan pay "protection fees."

"To Trump, in particular, there is nothing more important than buying and selling, and Taiwan has no way of predicting what will be included in those deals," Kuan said.

At the same time, Taiwan continues to be "highly dependent" on China for trade, even as cross-Taiwan Strait relations deteriorate, Kuan said, adding that Taiwan could increasingly find its economy squeezed by both Beijing and Washington.

Just as Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he does not "have the cards" in regards to the war with Russia, Taiwan must also think about "what cards it holds," Kuan said.

Economically, Kuan argued that Taiwan should use the pressure from China and the U.S. to spur economic reforms, including further opening its markets and cultivating more diverse service-sector industries.

It should also seek to "stabilize" its relations with China, he said.

In terms of security, "Trump likes making deals, and it is possible that he will make a deal on Taiwan's security," Kuan said.

Rather than just becoming "a pawn for the Americans," Taiwan "needs to find a way to act with initiative and agency between [the U.S. and China]," he argued.

Turning to Taiwan's own government, Kuan lamented that cross-strait relations were being led by a DPP government that won only 40 percent of the votes in the most recent presidential election.

"The future of 23 million people should not be controlled by a small number of extremists in the DPP," the outspoken scholar said.

Although Taiwan is not the primary actor in cross-strait relations, it has the ability to "balance" its relations with the U.S., and thus ease some of the risks it faces from China, Kuan said.

Kuan, an economist, headed NTU from 2019 to 2023 and served as the head of the National Development Council in 2014 and 2015 under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Kuomintang (KMT).