TAIPEI, Taiwan — In 2016, Taiwan’s president called Donald Trump to congratulate him after he won the presidential election. Trump took the call, becoming the first American president or president-elect to speak to a Taiwanese leader in decades.

This time, after Trump won a second term in the White House, Taiwan was quick to deny reports that its current leader, Lai Ching-te, was seeking a similar phone call with the president-elect.

The contrast was telling.

Taiwan appears to be preparing for a more delicate, possibly testy, relationship with Trump upon his return to the White House. On the campaign trail, Trump had suggested that Taiwan should pay the United States for helping defend the island from China and complained that Taiwan had stolen America’s business in semiconductors.

“There is more anxiety this time” in Taiwan about Trump taking office, Chen Ming-chi, a former senior adviser on Taiwan’s National Security Council, said in an interview.

By “declaring that we are not going to seek a congratulatory phone call, that means we are more realistic,” said Chen, who teaches at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University. Lai issued a congratulatory statement about Trump’s victory.

Tensions between Beijing and Taipei are high, with frequent Chinese military drills stoking fears of an accidental conflict. A call with Trump could prompt a forceful reaction from China, which claims the island as its territory and resents whenever Taiwan acts like, or is treated as, a sovereign nation.

The 2016 call between Trump and Tsai Ing-wen, who was then Taiwan’s president, drew condemnation from China. The United States had avoided leader-level contacts with Taiwan after it severed ties in 1979 to switch to recognition of China.

The call was only the first of several notable steps by Trump that bolstered U.S. support for Taiwan.

His administration later increased weapons sales to Taiwan and sent senior officials to visit, in defiance of Beijing’s complaints. Such moves gained Trump wide popularity in Taiwan even as much of the world soured on American leadership under him.