Donald Trump’s suggestion he might speak soon with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about the island\u2019s defenses. A call between the two leaders would be unprecedented and risks roiling Washington\u2019s ties with Beijing, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory. U.S. and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979. Trump said again on Wednesday he would speak with Lai, dispelling initial speculation that his first mention of it after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping last week was a verbal slip. Trump\u2019s initial comments about the call sparked surprise among officials in Washington and Taipei, according to two of the people familiar with the matter. In the days since, officials from the U.S. and Taiwan have been in touch about the prospect of a call, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, but all four sources said no concrete plans have yet been put in place. T
he White House declined to comment. A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington said the U.S. needs to honor its commitments and exercise caution on Taiwan, adding that it should “stop sending any wrong message to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.” “China\u2019s opposition to any official exchanges between the U.S. and China\u2019s Taiwan region, and the U.S.\u2019s arms sales to Taiwan is consistent, clear and rock-firm,” the spokesperson said. Beijing has privately warned Washington that such a call could damage their ties and unwind progress between the countries at the state visit, according to two of the people briefed on the messages. Taiwan’s presidential office referred Reuters to comments Lai made on Wednesday. He said that, if he got the opportunity to speak to Trump, he would say China was undermining peace and nobody has the right to “annex” the island. Lai did not say whether any call had been set up. TAIWAN A MAJOR FOCUS OF XI TALKS
Xi pressed Trump on Taiwan policy during a two-day state visit last week, warning him that mishandling the countries’ disagreements over the issue could imperil China-U.S. relations. Following those meetings, Trump said he had not decided whether to proceed with a major weapons sale worth up to $14 billion to Taiwan, adding to uncertainty about U.S. support for the island. On May 15, Trump told reporters that he would speak with \u201cthe person … that\u2019s running Taiwan\u201d before deciding whether to approve further arms sales. Trump said again on Wednesday that he would speak with Lai. “I\u2019ll speak to him; I speak to everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem.” Any decision by Trump to withhold arms would mark a stark shift in his approach. Privately, U.S. officials have told Taiwan to expect no change in policy, according to two of the sources. Under U.S. law, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, and both Republican and D<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump’s suggestion he might speak soon with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about the island\u2019s defenses. A call between the two leaders would be unprecedented and risks roiling Washington\u2019s ties with Beijing, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory. U.S. and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n