'Impossible' for US to give up Indo-Pacific, Taiwan defence minister says

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States cannot abandon the Indo-Pacific because the region is part of its "core national interests", Taiwan's Defence Minister Wellington Koo said amid concerns about U.S. security commitments to Taiwan.

The White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump, which plunged ties between Kyiv and its top military backer to a new low, has renewed concerns in Taiwan about Washington's security commitment at a time when China is ramping up its military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over the democratic island.

"We indeed noticed the fast-changing and tricky international situation and deeply understand that we can't just talk about values but not national interests," Koo told reporters at a briefing on Monday when asked whether the U.S. is still a reliable security partner for Taiwan.

"So we must ask: keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region including the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, is that a core U.S. national interest?" Koo asked.

"I think it is impossible for the United States to retreat from the Indo-Pacific because it is its core national interest."

Koo said "using deterrence and strength to achieve peace" has been the long-standing consensus between Taipei and Washington, and that stability in the region is important for the United States, both economically and geopolitically.

The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.

Taiwan, which strongly rejects China's sovereignty claim, enjoyed support from the first Trump administration. But Trump unnerved Taiwan on the campaign trail by calling for it to pay more for U.S. security guarantees.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)