Trump says China’s Xi told him he won’t move on Taiwan during Republican’s term
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had given him assurances that Beijing would take no action to achieve its long-held goal of unifying Taiwan with mainland China while the Republican leader is in power.
Trump said the long-controversial issue of Taiwan was not raised during his talks with Xi on Thursday in South Korea, which largely focused on trade tensions between the United States and China. But the US leader said he was certain that China would not take action towards Taiwan while he is in power.
“He has said openly, and his people have said it openly in meetings, ‘We will never do anything as long as President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an excerpt of an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.
U.S. officials have long worried about the possibility that China would use military force against Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory.
The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which governs U.S. relations with the island, does not require the United States to intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion, but makes it U.S. policy to ensure that Taiwan has the resources necessary to defend itself and prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.
Asked if he would order U.S. forces to defend Taiwan if China attacked, Trump demurred. The United States, both Republicans and Democrats, have maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan – trying not to question whether the United States would come to the island’s aid in such a scenario.
“You will find out if that happens, and he understands the answer to that question,” Trump said of Xi.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House also did not provide additional details on when Xi or Chinese officials conveyed to Trump that military action in Taiwan was out of the question for the duration of the Republican presidency.
The “60 Minutes” interview was recorded Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It was Trump’s first appearance on the show since he settled a lawsuit this summer with CBS News over the news magazine’s interview with Kamala Harris.
The rest of the interview is expected to air later Sunday.
