Donald Trump has said he has "made no commitment either way" on Taiwan during talks with China's President Xi Jinping.
On the flight back to Washington after the two-day summit in Beijing, Trump told reporters the pair had "talked a lot" about Taiwan - a self-governing island, which China claims as part of its territory and has not ruled out taking by force.
Trump said Xi had asked directly if the US would defend Taiwan, and he had responded: "I don't talk about that."
The US president also said he would "make a determination over a fairly short period" on whether to go ahead with previously US announced arms sales to Taiwan which China has condemned.
Taiwan is a long-standing US ally and Washington is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
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Donald Trump left China today with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war, despite two days spent heaping praise on his host, Xi Jinping.
ReplyDeleteMr Trump's visit to America's main strategic and economic rival, the first by a US president since his last trip in 2017, had aimed for tangible results to beef up his sagging approval ratings before midterm elections.
The summit was filled with pageantry, from goose-stepping soldiers to tours of a secret garden, but behind closed doors, Mr Xi issued a stark warning to Mr Trump that any mishandling of China's top concern, Taiwan, could spiral into conflict.
During a huddle with reporters on the way back to the US, Mr Trump said Xi told him he opposed Taiwan's independence.
"I heard him out. I didn't make a comment ... I made no commitment either way," said Mr Trump.
He added that he will decide on a pending arms sale to Taiwan shortly, after speaking to "the person that right now is ... running Taiwan".
Constructive and stable strategic relations between China and the US are not just a nice slogan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
ReplyDelete"Overall, the constructive and stable strategic relations maintained between China and the US are more than just a slogan. It is a goal to which both sides must firmly aspire and actions they must take together," the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted the top diplomat as saying.
According to Wang Yi, Beijing and Washington must follow the course clearly outlined by their respective leaders. The foreign minister noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed that a constructive relationship of strategic stability would become the new concept for bilateral relations and would "continually enrich the substance of this new approach, translate it into concrete policies and practical measures, so that through joint efforts we can open a new chapter in China-US cooperation."
The top Chinese diplomat emphasized that this position would serve as a "strategic guideline for the development of China-US relations over the next three years and in the longer term." "This decision has been positively received by the peoples of both countries and the international community," he noted.
US President Donald Trump intends to quickly decide, following consultations with Taiwanese administration head Lai Ching-te, whether Washington will continue supplying arms to the island.
ReplyDelete"I'm going to make a determination," the US leader said, commenting on the possibility of further arms and military equipment deliveries to Taiwan during a conversation with reporters aboard his plane en route from Beijing to Anchorage and on to Washington. "I have to speak to the person that right now is - you know who he is - running Taiwan," Trump pointed out.
The US president effectively disagreed with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who warned that the US policy toward Taiwan risks provoking a confrontation between Washington and Beijing. "I think we will be fine," the US leader stressed.
US President Donald Trump on Friday warned self-ruled Taiwan against pushing for formal independence, after he discussed the flashpoint issue with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.
ReplyDelete“We’re not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China’s going to be OK with that,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview.
“But we’re not looking at somebody saying, ‘let’s go independent because the United States is backing us.’”