May 17, 2026 / 10:48 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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The following is the transcript of the interview with Ambassador Alexander Yui, Taiwan's representative to the U.S., that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 17, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Ambassador Alexander Yui, Taiwan's representative to the United States. Ambassador, good to have you here in person. There hasn't- there hasn't been a call between an American president and a leader of Taiwan since 1979, but President Trump indicated to reporters there might be one coming. Is there a call planned with President Lai?ALEXANDER YUI, TAIWAN REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED STATES: Well, we'll see, but President Trump, when he was in Beijing for the last two days, he mentioned that he heard a lot about Taiwan, you know, he heard a lot about Taiwan those two days in Beijing. But the problem is he heard only their side of the story, you know, he heard the Chinese story, or as I would say in Spanish, el cuento chino. I think he, if he has time, would love to tell him our side of the story, the Taiwan story, which is one that of resiliency, of a state staying up against the Chinese aggression. This has been going on for 77 years. This is not something that just happened when the DPP, the current ruling party in Taiwan, came to power. This has been going on for 77 years, since the inception of 1949 when they became a People's Republic. So this is not a recent thing, as if we are the ones creating problems. It is China- People's Republic of China, creating all this problems-- MARGARET BRENNAN: -- So no call scheduled yet?-- YUI: Well, the communication between Taiwan and U.S. is constant, it's current. But I'll leave it to the U.S. to announce anything. If it happens. MARGARET BRENNAN: It would be a big deal. He did speak to a past president as president-elect.YUI: Yes, with President Tsai, yeah, 2015-16.
