Is Trump weakening the US’ case against future invasion of Taiwan by China?

In the modern age, the United States helped establish a fundamental tenet of the world order that a nation could not occupy another by force, but that US commitment as well as that world order now stands battered by President Donald Trump.

Once a driving force behind the defeat of Nazi Germany and promotion of democracy in the face of Soviet dictators’ expansionism, the United States under Trump is walking the same path as the rulers of Nazi Germany, Soviet Union (later Russia), and China. The case that the United States had built against the forceful occupation of a nation by another, most notably in context of China’s stated intent to invade and occupy Taiwan, now stands weaker than ever.

In the past one month, Trump has, however, normalised invasions, permanent expulsion of peoples from their historic homeland, and a rejection of sovreignty. Instead of the rules-based order that the United States pushed for years, now the message is that might is right.

As Trump normalises invasions & occupation, China finds vindication

Since his election in November, Trump has woven various pretexts to annex nations and territories across continents .

In violation of international laws, Trump has pledged the United States to annex Denmark’s Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada, and Gaza Strip.

In Greenland, Trump is looking forward to acquire the island and reward his billionaire allies with natural resources that are believed to be there. In Panama, Trump is looking forward to control the canal used by 40 per cent of US-bound container ships. In Canada, Trump has committed to turn a nation into an American state. In Gaza, Trump has committed to expelling Palestinians from their historic homeland in what amounts to state-sponsored ethnic cleansing and develop the emptied enclave into a resort town.

To build what he called “Riviera of the Middle East”, Trump said he will acquire Gaza from Israel. But Gaza is not Israel’s to give.

In the wake of these announcements, there is now essentially no difference between the stated expansionist policies of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In one month, Trump has undone generations of US policy that enjoyed bipartisan approval and the fallout goes much beyond the case of Taiwan. As Trump has committed the United States to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and has indicated he might greenlight Israel’s annexation of West Bank, there is little locus standi for the United States to oppose the Chinese genocidal occupation of Tibet and Xinjiang — not that Trump would have ever taken a stand on these issues.

With his policies, Trump has legitimised Xi’s designs for Taiwan.

Trump’s stand on Ukraine war last nail in coffin

Trump’s stand on the Russian war on Ukraine is the last nail in the coffin of the rules-based world order that the United States committed to for generations — until Trump took over last month.

While Trump had always been critical of the support to Ukraine and was always friendly with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he become outright hostile this week and transitioned from misrepresenting and twisting facts to spewing lies so blatant that even those who endorsed him called him out. From previously indirectly strengthening Putin’s hand in the war on Ukraine, Trump has now moved to overtly undermining Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Trump said that Ukraine started the ongoing war . That is of course a lie. The whole world watched Russian military cross into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in a full-scale invasion of the country. Putin himeslf announced the invasion in a broadcast.

If that was not enough, Trump dubbed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and essentially called for his ouster.

Trump also ramped up his utterance of Russian talking points. Instead of Putin’s expansionism, Trump said that it was his predecessor Joe Biden who trigerred the war with his promise of Nato membership to Ukraine. That is of course a lie. The promise of Nato membership has been bipartisan stand of the United States since 2008.

As Trump has essentially endorsed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he has normalised a world order where any country can invade another and occupy it.

WIth his stand on Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada, Gaza, and Ukraine, Trump has killed the US case against the Chinese invasion and occupation of Taiwan.