Taipei is in close contact with Washington to make sure its interests are protected ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who are expected to also discuss Taiwan, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.
Taiwan always keeps close tabs on high-level exchanges between Washington and Beijing, North American Affairs Department Director-General Wang Liang-yu (王良玉) said.
Taipei also maintains “a smooth communication channel” with Washington at all times, and would keep a close eye on the latest high-level talks between the US and China, Wang told a news briefing.
Photo: AFP
“We will make sure that the bilateral relations between Taiwan and the US continue to deepen steadily and that Taiwan’s interests are protected,” she said when asked about the US president’s earlier statement that Taiwan would be on the agenda of his upcoming meeting with Xi.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said “rare earths, fentanyl, soybeans and Taiwan” are some of the divisive topics that are to be discussed when he meets with Xi next week at the APEC summit in South Korea, Bloomberg reported.
Before meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the White House on Monday, Trump told reporters that he expects to reach a trade deal with Xi soon, and he downplayed the risks of the two superpowers clashing over Taiwan.
Asked about an earlier Pentagon assessment that Xi could attempt to seize Taiwan in the next six years, Trump said he doubts that China would invade Taiwan.
“I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” Trump told reporters.
However, Taiwan is probably a key issue for Xi, he said.
“Now that doesn’t mean it’s not the apple of his eye, because probably it is, but I don’t see anything happening,” Trump said.
Without explicitly pledging to defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion, Trump said China knows that the US “is the strongest military power in the world by far.”
“We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and others.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has not made any clear statements on the protection of Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.
The US’ long-standing position on the issue has been one of “strategic ambiguity,” which is aimed at deterring Beijing from an attempted invasion without committing to involvement in such a war.
However, former US president Joe Biden had said publicly on several occasions that the US would defend Taiwan if China attacked.
Each time, Biden administration officials later walked back his statements, signaling that the US policy on Taiwan had not changed.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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