TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan said on Thursday that nothing surprising occurred during the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, Reuters reported.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister and Spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said Taiwan remains a core issue in nearly every high-level US-China meeting. He said Taipei would continue maintaining close communication with Washington following Trump’s meeting with Xi.
Xi warned Trump earlier Thursday that disagreements over Taiwan could damage bilateral ties and potentially trigger conflict, per NBC. However, Liang said the real threat to peace in the Taiwan Strait comes from China’s military activities around Taiwan, not from the Taiwanese public’s desire to preserve its way of life.
He added that Beijing should curb its military intimidation if maintaining stability across the Taiwan Strait is truly common ground between China and the US.
The White House summary of the Trump-Xi meeting did not mention Taiwan, per Reuters. Chinese aircraft and naval vessels continue to operate near Taiwan on an almost daily basis.
China has repeatedly labeled Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) a “separatist” and warned that any move toward formal independence could lead to war. Liang rejected those claims, saying Taiwan’s government seeks to maintain the status quo.
