After Trump Calls for Protection Fee, China Says US Could ‘Abandon’ Taiwan

China has warned Taiwan it could become an “abandoned pawn” after former President Donald Trump suggested it doesn’t pay the U.S. enough “protection” money.

In an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience that aired Saturday, the Republican presidential nominee reiterated his claim that Taiwan had “stolen” the U.S. chip business before suggesting it should pay Washington to defend it from China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory. “They don’t pay us money for the protection,” Trump said.

Taiwan is the world’s leader in semiconductor manufacturing, a sector critical to both consumer electronics and defense technology, and its role as a semiconductor hub places it at the center of U.S. technology interests.

“I believe that the majority of Taiwan compatriots have already made a rational judgment on whether the United States wants to ‘protect Taiwan’ or ‘harm Taiwan,” Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), said Wednesday when asked by state media to comment on Trump’s remarks.

She added that the Taiwanese know “the United States will always pursue ‘America first’ and that Taiwan could go from being a pawn to an outcast at any time.”

TAO is a Chinese department responsible for cross-strait relations with Taiwan and promoting Beijing’s unification agenda.

Zhu also denounced the U.S.’s recent $2 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, approved last week that includes surface-to-air Missile Systems, radar equipment, and related equipment. While the U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan, the two sides enjoy strong de facto diplomatic ties, and Washinton has for decades provided for its self-defense in line with the Taiwan Relations Act.

“Tell the (Taiwanese President) Lai Ching-te authorities that buying weapons cannot buy security and will only make Taiwan more dangerous,” she said. She added: “Taiwan independence separatists acts and foreign interference cannot stop the general trend of the motherland’s reunification.”

Newsweek reached out to Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry with a written request for comment.

Beijing claims Taiwan is its territory and maintains unification is inevitable, through force if necessary, though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled there.

Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai told legislators on Tuesday he disagrees with Trump’s claim Taiwan profited off chips at America’s expense. “Taiwan developed its semiconductor industry on its own and made itself into a world leader,” local media quoted him as saying. He expressed confidence, however, that the U.S. is a mature democracy and said Taiwan would continue to strengthen its ties with the country.

China has ratcheted up its military activities around Taiwan in recent years, including earlier this month when Chinese warships and aircraft engaged in drills and simulated a blockade around the island.