Taipei — Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump would deserve the Nobel Peace Prize if he can convince Chinese leader Xi Jinping to permanently give up any threat of military action against Taiwan. In a pointed interview on a U.S. conservative radio show, Lai sought to reframe Taiwan’s security as integral to regional stability and U.S. interests.
Lai made the remarks on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a program syndicated across more than 400 U.S. talk radio stations. He recalled Trump’s assertion in August that Xi had assured him China would avoid invading Taiwan while Trump remains in office.
“We hope to continue receiving President Trump’s support. Should President Trump persuade Xi Jinping to permanently abandon any military aggression against Taiwan, President Trump would undoubtedly be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate,” Lai said in the interview.
Trump has previously claimed he deserves the prize, citing predecessors who won it. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is scheduled to be announced in Norway on Friday.
Urging Trump to watch China’s moves
Asked what message he would deliver to Trump, if ever granted the opportunity, Lai urged vigilance toward China’s expanding military footprint. He flagged intensifying drills in the Taiwan Strait, and force deployments in the East China Sea and South China Sea, warning that these moves transcend Taiwan and threaten broader regional order.
“When Taiwan is annexed, China will gain greater strength to compete with the United States on the international stage, undermining the rules-based international order,” Lai said. He added that such a shift would erode U.S. homeland interests indirectly — making Taiwan’s security a matter of shared concern.
Beijing did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Lai’s remarks. Chinese authorities routinely rebuff Taipei’s statements, labeling Lai a “separatist” and rejecting his offers for dialogue.
Because Taiwan and the U.S. do not maintain formal diplomatic ties, Taiwanese presidents typically do not speak directly with U.S. presidents. Nevertheless, Taipei has consistently sought Washington’s backing under the U.S.’s statutory obligations to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
U.S. stance, arms and ambiguity
Although Trump has taken office earlier this year, he has not announced any new arms sales to Taiwan so far — a notable gap in his administration’s Taiwan policy. He and Xi could meet later this month at a regional summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in South Korea, offering a diplomatic opening.
Lai reaffirmed Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself. He noted that Taipei has committed to raising defense spending to reach 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 — a target meant to reassure Washington and bolster deterrence.
He framed Taiwan’s self-defense as a contribution to broader peace: “When Taiwan protects itself, it is also committing to maintaining regional peace and stability.”
The U.S., by contrast, has long adhered to a posture of “strategic ambiguity” — deliberately avoiding a public pledge to militarily defend Taiwan, even as it maintains a legal framework obligating arms sales.
Lai rejected Beijing’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan, arguing that only Taiwan’s people hold the right to decide their future. He has accused China of escalating military pressure while undermining democratic institutions through influence campaigns, espionage, and gray-zone tactics.
Rising tension across the strait
Lai’s remarks come amid heightened tension in the Taiwan Strait and increasingly assertive Chinese military maneuvers. Earlier this year, China launched large-scale drills around Taiwan, including aircraft sorties and naval maneuvers, which Taipei condemned as provocative and destabilizing.
In March, Lai formally labeled China a “foreign hostile force” and moved to bolster national security mechanisms in response to suspected infiltration and subversion attempts.
Taiwan also faces domestic political pressures. Lai’s administration has pushed for restoring military courts and enhancing counterintelligence operations — efforts critics worry may risk eroding civil liberties in the name of security.
Stakes and uncertainties ahead
Lai’s proposal places Trump at the center of cross-strait diplomacy — an ambitious gambit. In reality, persuading Xi to renounce force would require sweeping shifts in Chinese doctrine and security posture, a deeply unlikely turn in Beijing’s view of Taiwan.
Still, Lai’s comments underscore Taiwan’s strategic gamble: by aligning its narrative with U.S. political incentives and recasting itself as a frontline of democratic defense, Taipei hopes to ratchet up American political cost of disengagement.
For Trump, the moment holds both opportunity and peril. A successful mediation could redound to his legacy — yet efforts might be rebuffed, or worse, perceived as undue interference in China’s core interests. And in Washington, any arms sales package to Taiwan would invite scrutiny from Congress and diplomatic friction with Beijing.
For now, Lai’s bold framing is as much political theater as it is policy nudge — a signal to his own population, to Beijing, and above all to Washington: Taiwan refuses to be sidelined.
