Taiwan’s Message to Trump and the U.N.: ‘We’re Not a Freeloader’

The island’s de facto ambassador to Washington on Trump, China, defense spending, and more.

Tah-ray Yui smiles and gives a thumbs-up gesture as he walks toward a white building. September 19, 2025, 5:02 PM

The last time Foreign Policy sat down with Alexander Tah-ray Yui, he was just months into his new role as the de facto Taiwanese ambassador to Washington—officially known as Taiwan’s representative to the United States—with less than a year left in U.S. President Joe Biden’s term. Biden said on multiple occasions that the U.S. military would defend the island in the event of an attack from China, seemingly straying from a long-standing U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan (though Biden administration

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