China might try some “maneuvering” over the Taiwan issue when US President Donald Trump visits Beijing next week, but the US has reaffirmed that its policy on Taiwan has not changed, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday.
Taipei would be watching for any sign that Trump, who has unnerved partners with his transactional approach to alliances, could soften or reframe longstanding US policy on Taiwan in return for China buying US aircraft or agricultural goods, and easing economic pressures.
Speaking to reporters at the legislature in Taipei, Tsai said the key focus of Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was likely to be managing their issues, “not fundamental problem-solving.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“As for the Taiwan issue, I believe the Chinese communists may attempt some maneuvering during the talks,” Tsai said. “However, on this point, the US has continuously reaffirmed through both public and private channels that its Taiwan policy has not changed.”
Taiwan is likely to be a topic of conversation between Trump and Xi, but both nations understand that it is in neither of their interests to see any “destabilizing events” occur with regard to Taiwan, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week.
Speaking later yesterday, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said China “very much wants” to discuss Taiwan at the summit, even if the US does not really want to.
“It appears that the Taiwan issue will come up, but the hope is that it will not go beyond manageable bounds and will not have an adverse impact on Taiwan,” Liang said.
A former senior Pentagon official on Wednesday said that Trump is likely to focus on trade and economic matters during his expected meeting with Xi, although the Taiwan issue is also likely to be raised by Beijing.
Randall Schriver, who served as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs during Trump’s first term, told Taiwanese reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Washington that Trump would want to build on a temporary trade truce that was reached with Xi during their meeting last year in Busan, South Korea.
“My understanding is that President Trump would like to focus on economic and trade issues,” said Schriver, who now chairs the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security.
At the upcoming meeting, Trump would be hoping to establish a more durable framework covering issues such as Chinese rare earth exports and tariffs, he said.
“I have confidence that President Trump will not just represent Taiwan, but really represent US-Taiwan interests, which are in most cases shared interests,” Schriver said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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