The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said.
China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous conflict or confrontation by what he called “Taiwanese separatists.”
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
However, Trump said on social media that the talks focused primarily on trade and led to “a very positive conclusion,” announcing that further lower-level talks were forthcoming.
He said that “there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products,” but made no mention of Taiwan.
“We’re in very good shape with China and the trade deal,” he later told reporters.
Photo: AP
The two leaders also extended mutual invitations to visit each other’s countries.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China was deliberately distorting Taiwan’s status, citing Chinese media claims that the US had agreed to continue upholding the “one China” policy.
This is a recurring tactic used by Beijing when engaging with other nations, the ministry said.
Taiwan is committed to working with allies to foster regional prosperity and maintain the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, it added.
Taiwan will continue to deepen bilateral ties with the US in areas such as security and trade, while closely monitoring regional developments to protect its national interests, it said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that Taiwan has always supported dialogue between the US and China, and welcomes any efforts that contribute to regional stability.
Taiwan will continue to maintain close communication with Washington and work together toward regional peace and prosperity, she added.
The highly anticipated phone call came amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over “rare earths” minerals, a dispute that threatened to unravel the fragile trade truce between the world’s two largest economies.
However, it remained unclear from either side’s statements whether the issue had been resolved.
Trump said on social media that a US delegation — led by US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — is to meet with their Chinese counterparts “shortly at a location to be determined.”
“The US side should take a realistic view of the progress made and withdraw the negative measures imposed on China,” the Chinese government said in a statement following Xi’s call with Trump, published by Xinhua.
Trump had long sought a call or meeting with Xi, but Beijing had resisted, preferring to settle the details of any agreement through lower-level negotiations first.
Thursday’s call came at Trump’s request, China said.
It is not clear when the two men last spoke, with Chinese officials maintaining that no recent calls had occurred.
While both sides said they last spoke on Jan. 17 — just days before Trump’s inauguration — Trump has repeatedly said that he and Xi have remained in contact since he took office on Jan. 20.
China had said that the two leaders had not had any recent phone calls.
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