China’s Xi warns Trump over potential Taiwan conflict

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned President Trump on Thursday that “clashes, even conflicts” over Taiwan could jeopardize economic ties between the world’s two largest economies.

Mr. Xi issued the stark warning as the two men met for high-stakes negotiations in Beijing to begin their two-day summit. It also contrasted with the public praise the leaders gave each other during the welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Chinese president stressed that Taiwan is the most important issue in Sino-U.S. relations and, if handled well, could improve overall stability between the two nations, according to minutes of the meeting provided by the Chinese government. Xi said, however, that if mismanaged, the two countries would experience “clashes and even conflicts, jeopardizing their entire relations.”

Xi went on to say that Taiwan independence and peace across the Taiwan Strait are incompatible and that “the United States should treat the Taiwan issue with utmost caution,” according to the statement.

Taiwan is a self-governing democracy that Beijing considers Chinese territory and has vowed to seize it by force if necessary. The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that U.S. policy toward Taiwan should not change.

Some Taiwanese officials feared that Mr. Trump was willing to make concessions to Mr. Xi on Taiwan in order to get help on other issues, like the war in Iran and a trade deal. A Taiwanese official said the nation feared it would be “on the menu” at the summit.

The US account of Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Xi does not mention Taiwan and describes the summit as a “good meeting” focused on economic and trade cooperation.

Instead, US news focused heavily on the war in Iran, which dominated the summit and led to the six-week postponement of Mr Trump’s trip to China. China has close ties with Iran and Mr Trump has said this could be helpful in ending the war.

The White House statement said Xi expressed opposition to the militarization of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route that has been effectively closed by Iran, sending oil and gas prices skyrocketing.

Mr. Xi also said he wanted to buy American oil to reduce China’s dependence on Iranian oil and agreed that Iran can never have nuclear weapons, according to the White House statement.