Many people in Taiwan feel that President Trump has taken Russia's side in the Ukraine conflict and that doesn't bode well for the East Asian democracy, which is largely dependent on America for its national defence.

China's military drills in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday have added to a sense of unease for many of the island's citizens.

But as DW correspondent James Chaytor reports from the Taiwanese capital, officials are still hoping they can keep Donald Trump as a loyal friend.

Outside the de facto Russian embassy in Taipei, a display of solidarity with the victims of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

But for many of the Taiwanese taking part in this demonstration, this isn't just about a conflict in Europe.

It's a reminder that they, too, face an existential threat.

On the one hand, I'm tending this rally to support Ukraine, but for Taiwanese people it's also about resisting China and its alliance with Russia.

Many of the activists here, Taiwanese and Ukrainian, have been coming here right since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Now, more than ever, they're troubled by how the conflict in Europe could end and what that means for the fate of Taiwan.

US military backing of Taiwan is considered essential in fending off a possible attack by Beijing, which sees the self-ruled democracy as its own territory.

That's why US President Donald Trump's move toward Moscow, even accusing Kiev of starting the war with Russia, has rattled many here.

Taiwan and Ukraine both face great powers that don't recognize our sovereignty.

But if Trump can abandon Ukraine for his own interests, then couldn't he abandon Taiwan, too?

Taiwan is taking steps to smooth potential bumps in its relations with Trump.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-de this month pledged to increase defense spending to three percent of GDP.

He also promised more talks with Washington on Taiwan's world-leading semiconductor industry, something Trump has repeatedly claimed, incorrectly, that Taiwan stole from the US.

You know, they took the business away.

Taiwan took our chip business away.

Wang Dingyu, chair of Taiwan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, was in Washington for Trump's inauguration.

Wang says the US president's policy toward Europe has caused concern in Taiwan, but that the full impact is still unclear.

Of course we need to monitor it.

We need to realize our best friend, how they deal with international crisis.

Taiwan, we need to put Taiwan in a reliable partner position.

When you look at the next four years and the relationship with the US administration, what are some of the things that keep you up at night? Trust between allies.

Anything weaken this kind of trust will meet the interest of autocracy China, Beijing.

People in Taiwan have weathered complex global forces for decades, but in the new world order ushered in by Trump, Taiwan will be challenged to find its footing once again.

Let's pick up some of those points with Fang Yucheng, who is a political scientist at Taiwan's Suchow University and chief editor of the podcast US-Taiwan Watch.

She joins us from Taipei.

Welcome to DW.

Let's start with a question we heard in our report.

If Trump can abandon Ukraine, then couldn't he abandon Taiwan too?

Well, I would not say that Mr. Trump abandoned Ukraine, because everything under his policy is transactional.

So he wants to make a deal with Russians, with Europe, and with Ukraine as well.

So everything becomes transactional.

So there's no words like alliance or democracy in the past framework.

So we have to adjust to this new framework.

So I would not say that the American will abandon anyone, especially Taiwan, because Taiwan is a long-term friend of the U.S. and also just a highly interdependent of the economy.

We are the trade partner of each other.

So I think there is a lot of new policies under the new administration.

So everyone must take a new approach on making the connection with the U.S.

OK, so let's explore that then.

In this new transactional world, what can Taiwan do for the U.S. that would ensure U.S. continued support?

And also on the idea of Taiwan being a trade partner, we've seen with Mexico and with Canada and even with the European Union, that counts for nothing.

So let's start with what you can do for the U.S.

Well, first of all, the U.S. wants everyone, every country to pay more for the military capabilities.

So firstly, Taiwan must invest more on the military capability, military spending.

That is for sure.

And that is also one of the most important Taiwan's national interests.

So firstly, Taiwan should explore more possibility of the cooperation with the U.S. and also to expand more arms sales and other military cooperation items with the U.S., which the two countries have already done a lot in the past few years.

So I think we have a very good base for deepening the ties between the U.S. and Taiwan.

And secondly, for the economy, Mr. Trump very often to use so-called tariff on other countries.

And most of the times he uses the tariff for different purposes.

I think for Taiwan's case, the tariff on the semiconductor industry is not a real project because Taiwan's semiconductor industry produces not the final goods, but oftentimes the intermediate goods.

Which means that if there is any tariff, it will not impose on Taiwanese company, but on the American companies, including Google, Apple, and NVIDIA.

So it is not, I don't think tariff on Taiwan is a real plan.

So there's another issues like investment, foreign investment, I think Mr. Trump cares the most.

OK.

And a word about China then.

How do you think China views this?

Because the way, if I read you correctly, on the one hand, you could say that, well, China would be quite pleased about the idea of the United States backing Russia against Ukraine, because it semi-legitimizes China's claim to Taiwan.

But on the other hand, if the United States is then selling more weapons to Taiwan, and Taiwan's increasing its military spending, well, China's not going to be happy about that.

Well, read the Chinese mind for us.

I think most of time, China is still very uncertain about the Trump administration.

Everything is uncertain.

So for the good side for China is that, well, the Americans, the American first policy seems to have a retreat globally on the soft power, especially cancel cancellation of the USAID.

That includes cancellation of a lot of civil group monitoring projects on China.

So that is first.

China is very happy about this.

However, China is also facing uncertainty on more resources on the Indo-Pacific region, which is one of the priority of the Trump administration.

So everything is uncertain.

Thanks for that.

Fang Yuchen, political scientist at Taiwan's Suzhou University.

Thank you.