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The first thing that a visitor to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees is an archway flanked by two sets of flags. On the left are 12 flags belonging to Taiwan’s official diplomatic allies—Belize, Paraguay, Guatemala, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Eswatini, Tuvalu, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Holy See. On the right are 13 flags belonging to Taiwan’s unofficial but arguably far more important partners—the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

It is those latter relationships—one in particular—that I was keen to discuss with Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi when I arrived at the building one morning in late January.

The first thing that a visitor to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees is an archway flanked by two sets of flags. On the left are 12 flags belonging to Taiwan’s official diplomatic allies—Belize, Paraguay, Guatemala, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Eswatini, Tuvalu, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Holy See. On the right are 13 flags belonging to Taiwan’s unofficial but arguably far more important partners—the United States, the European Union, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

It is those latter relationships—one in particular—that I was keen to discuss with Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi when I arrived at the building one morning in late January.

The United States has always been Taiwan’s most indispensable partner, supplying it with billions of dollars of military aid even as it officially recognizes China as the sole diplomatic representative of the Chinese people.

Under the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, however, Taiwan—like all of Washington’s traditional allies and partners—has had to deal with increased uncertainty and unpredictability. Unlike the........

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