Kamala Harris is looking to make history as the first female U.S. president. She faces a variety of complicated issues such as conflict in the Middle East, the economy and relations with Taiwan. In part two of our series, "Defending Taiwan," we take a look at what a Harris administration could mean for Taiwan’s security.
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00:00Two years ago, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and then-Taiwan Vice President Lai
00:07Ching-da met for the first time in Honduras.
00:14Fast forward to 2024, and Lai Ching-da is now president, and the U.S. is preparing to
00:19elect a new leader with Kamala Harris the Democratic contender.
00:25But what would a Harris administration mean for Taiwan's defense?
00:29As the U.S. is Taiwan's largest provider of weapons, military advisors, and equipment.
00:35Here's what she told the U.S. show 60 Minutes when asked what the U.S. would do if Taiwan
00:39was attacked by China.
00:41Listen, we need to make sure that we maintain a one China policy, but that includes supporting
00:49Taiwan's ability to defend itself.
00:52These comments are consistent with U.S. policy, acknowledging Beijing's claims on Taiwan without
00:57recognizing it, while at the same time maintaining a friendly, unofficial relationship with Taipei.
01:04The question now is whether Kamala Harris could bring something new to the table in
01:08terms of Taiwan's security if she wins the presidency.
01:11To answer that, Taiwan Plus traveled to the U.S.
01:16Pennsylvania is seen as a key battleground state in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
01:21And here in Philadelphia, members of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, as well
01:25as other political parties from Taiwan, are meeting here with U.S. defense officials to
01:29discuss the future of security cooperation with the next U.S. administration.
01:34At the annual U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, we met Iris Shaw, the newly appointed
01:40director of the DPP's Washington, D.C. office.
01:44Coming back as the head of the office, you get to feel like this is sort of the homecoming.
01:51Even though she's only held the post for a few months, she's got almost a decade of
01:55experience facilitating unofficial ties between the U.S. and Taiwan.
02:00And she says she doesn't expect anything new with a potential Harris administration.
02:05I could attest to the fact that all of the robust bilateral engagements from the Trump
02:13administration to the Biden administration have been a lot of consistencies.
02:18We are nothing but confident that whoever the American people choose in November, the
02:25robust and bipartisan support and engagement for both countries will continue.
02:32But analysts here at the conference are highlighting what could be a game-changing tool for the
02:37next administration.
02:40In recent years, the U.S. has come up with a new way to provide for Taiwan's defense.
02:46President Biden is the first U.S. president to use Presidential Drawdown Authority, or
02:51PDA, to expedite and send military equipment to Taiwan.
02:55This is a presidential order, and one of the fastest ways to give defense aid as these
03:00weapons come from existing U.S. stockpiles.
03:06If Harris wins, she could continue providing defense aid to Taiwan in this way.
03:11That's compared with how Trump led his Taiwan policy as president, securing more arms sales
03:15to Taiwan than any other administration.
03:19She'll be the first president to come into office with these existing things.
03:23There will not need to be a congressional fight.
03:25If there is a fight with Congress, it'll be over numbers and figures, not over the authorities.
03:29So I don't know how she will utilize them, but she has new tools that I hope she will
03:34continue to utilize.
03:36And it's not just about giving Taiwan weapons, as Harris has been particularly active as
03:41vice president in engaging with countries in Asia and representing the U.S., touring
03:46a Coast Guard in the Philippines, meeting with foreign representatives in Singapore,
03:52and attending the funeral of Japan's late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
03:56It's these kinds of relationships that could help Taiwan garner support from the international
04:00community.
04:01Biden has a good relationship with Kishida.
04:03I expect Harris will continue to have a good relationship with whatever happens in Tokyo.
04:08She already has the Philippines in line.
04:09So I think that this is good for Taiwan, that having a coalescence of U.S. allies that
04:15know and trust a potential Democratic president.
04:19When it comes to Kamala Harris and her Taiwan policy, analysts use the word consistency.
04:24They're expecting the same level of aid and engagement from a possible Harris administration
04:29as they did under Biden.
04:31Andy Hsu and Jaime O'Connor in Washington, D.C. for Taiwan Plus.