For a moment, it seemed that Taiwan had dodged a bullet.
Throughout the formalities of Donald Trump's two-day visit to Beijing, which ended on May 15th,
the American president avoided talking publicly about Taiwan.
That temporarily soothed Taiwanese fears that he might bow to Chinese pressure
to curb arms sales to the island, or even change America's public position towards it
by saying that he "opposed" its independence.
Then things started to unravel.
In an interview with Fox News recorded just before he left Beijing,
and speaking to reporters on Air Force One after take-off,
Mr Trump made a series of comments about Taiwan that deeply unnerved many on the island.
He suggested that America's 44-year commitment not to negotiate with China
over arms sales to Taiwan was out of date.
He also said he had discussed a $13bn arms package for Taiwan
and saw it as a useful bargaining chip.
And he portrayed Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, as trying to achieve independence and drag America into a war.
At the same time, Mr Trump surprised many listeners by suggesting
that he would talk to "the person who's running Taiwan" about the arms package.
There has been no direct contact between sitting American and Taiwanese leaders since 1979,
although Taiwan's previous president, Tsai Ing-wen, called Mr Trump (when he was president-elect)
to congratulate him on his election victory in 2016.