--- title: Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense description: Taiwan's President has become more strident on cross-Strait questions and Beijing is turning up the dial, writes Ian Bremmer. canonical: https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/ author: Ian Bremmer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-04-26T11:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:19:33.513Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense og:description: Taiwan's President has become more strident on cross-Strait questions and Beijing is turning up the dial, writes Ian Bremmer. og:url: https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f4bfed4df6865c/6998c4f69fbc7c0a2bd99e9d/taiwan-military-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: TAIWAN-DEFENCE-NAVY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense twitter:description: Taiwan's President has become more strident on cross-Strait questions and Beijing is turning up the dial, writes Ian Bremmer. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f4bfed4df6865c/6998c4f69fbc7c0a2bd99e9d/taiwan-military-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=984c2e17-968d-4c12-9dec-ec76a26723d5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Ian Bremmer](https://time.com/author/ian-bremmer/)  ## Ian Bremmer Apr 26, 2025 11:00 AM UTC  Taiwan honor guards hold flags during an open day event for the public at the Keelung port on March 17, 2025. Taiwan honor guards hold flags during an open day event for the public at the Keelung port on March 17, 2025. I-HWA CHENG—AFP/Getty Images  by [Ian Bremmer](https://time.com/author/ian-bremmer/)  ## Ian Bremmer Apr 26, 2025 11:00 AM UTC Since the inaugurations of [William Lai](https://time.com/6336441/taiwan-presidental-election-william-lai-profile/) as Taiwan’s President in May 2024 and [Donald Trump](https://time.com/7280106/trump-interview-100-days-2025/) as U.S. President in January, Beijing has been on edge. Will Lai take provocative actions that demand a response? And what is Trump’s attitude toward Taiwan and its fight to remain outside China’s orbit? The answers have proved complicated. In the early days of his presidency, Lai carefully avoided riling Beijing unnecessarily. The [strength of Taiwan’s economy](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-24/taiwan-s-fastest-growth-in-three-years-tempered-by-trump-risk) last year appeared to relieve him of any political need to rally his nationalist base with fist-shaking actions or rhetoric toward the mainland. But his Democratic Progressive Party lacks a parliamentary majority, and he [can’t be sure](https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-declines-answer-question-about-china-taiwan-2025-02-26/) the Trump Administration has his back. Whatever his political intent, Lai has become more strident on cross-Taiwan Strait questions in recent weeks. On March 13, Lai delivered a speech in which he [proposed 17 steps](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2025/03/14/2003833401) Taiwan should take to counter threats posed by China and its bid to infiltrate his government and Taiwanese society. Predictably, Beijing one-upped him, with 18 pieces of official commentary via state media that attacked Lai and his plans. Two weeks later, he was denounced as a “danger maker” and China’s People’s Liberation Army released propaganda videos simulating a blockade of the self-ruled island. If that was too subtle, China’s navy [conducted joint exercises around Taiwan on April 1](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/01/china-launches-surprise-military-drills-around-taiwan) to simulate an “assault on maritime and ground targets, and a blockade on key areas and sea lanes,” according to a PLA official. The Chinese coast guard deployed vessels in a circumnavigation patrol around Taiwan. We’ve seen similar moves and countermoves in the waters between China and Taiwan many times before. But this time both sides are trying to decipher what the mercurial Trump really thinks. For now, Taiwan needs to safeguard its economy against [Trump’s tariff pressures](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-proposes-another-10-bln-aid-deal-with-us-tariffs-2025-04-24/). Lai’s negotiators held their first trade talks with the White House on April 11, shortly after [Bloomberg published an op-ed by Lai](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-04-09/taiwan-has-a-roadmap-for-deeper-us-trade-ties?srnd=undefined) that proposed a reciprocal zero-tariff regime with the U.S. and an increase in purchases and investments in the U.S. Lai then called on April 14 for a “[Taiwan plus the U.S.](https://english.president.gov.tw/News/6935)” framework to help Taiwanese companies relocate and expand into the American market. Though we don’t yet know his tariff intentions toward Taiwan, Trump is extremely unlikely to cut it loose, at least in the near term. Yes, he’s made clear his flexibility on territorial integrity (see [Greenland/Denmark](https://time.com/7259818/exclusive-denmark-frederiksen-trump-greenland-interview/), [Panama](https://time.com/7205889/panama-us-myths-trump/), and [even Canada](https://time.com/7212675/tariffs-canada-american-state-backfired/)). If he won’t take on costs and risks to help Ukraine repel Russian invaders, how confident can Taiwan be that Trump will commit U.S. troops and taxpayer funds to defend an “ally” thousands of miles from American shores? At the same time, Trump has filled his Cabinet with China hawks, and if there’s one U.S. ally most every Republican in Washington wants to defend, it’s Taiwan against China. Beijing knows a full-scale invasion would risk direct war with the U.S., a destructive gamble for China’s already wobbly economy at a time when Trump has added 145% tariffs to its burdens. **Read More:** [_Why Trump Will Blink First on China_](https://time.com/7279900/trump-xi-us-china-trade-war/) For China’s leaders, it’s much safer to hold off on a full-scale invasion until the military balance more decisively favors its forces, its economy is on more solid footing, and the U.S. is led by a more predictable President. The real risk is that China will test U.S. resolve and probe Trump’s responses with [incremental escalations of pressure on Taiwan](https://time.com/6302515/china-philippines-south-china-sea-aggression/), none big enough on its own to create a crisis. Would it were that simple. As U.S.-China relations further break down, the shutting down of key lines of communication between Washington and Beijing could enable any accident or miscalculation to escalate into a full-blown military crisis that both would much prefer to avoid. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/"},"headline":"Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense","datePublished":"2025-04-26T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:19:33.513Z","description":"Taiwan's President has become more strident on cross-Strait questions, and Beijing is turning up the dial.","url":"https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/","keywords":["world affairs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f4bfed4df6865c/6998c4f69fbc7c0a2bd99e9d/taiwan-military-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ian Bremmer","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/ian-bremmer/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4f4bfed4df6865c/6998c4f69fbc7c0a2bd99e9d/taiwan-military-china.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TAIWAN-DEFENCE-NAVY","caption":"TAIWAN-DEFENCE-NAVY","creditText":"I-HWA CHENG—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/world-affairs/","name":"world affairs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7280019/trump-taiwan-china-puzzle/","name":"Why China-Taiwan Relations Are Getting So Tense"}}]}] ```