The past weekend produced a wave of misleading foreign media headlines about Donald Trump’s comments on Taiwan during his China trip.

What became clear instead was that decades-long US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, despite Xi Jinping’s hopes that Taiwan would become the biggest bargaining chip in negotiations.

The fact that US policy toward Taiwan emerged intact is itself a clear win for Taiwan.

Major international media outlets generated headlines claiming “Trump warns Taiwan against declaring independence,” narratives that risk misleading audiences unfamiliar with the nuances of cross-strait policy and Washington’s long-standing position toward Taiwan. Some foreign commentary even portrayed Taiwan as the biggest loser of the trip.

However, a closer look at US policy since 1979 shows that Washington’s wording remained consistent before, during, and after Trump’s Beijing visit. One important detail largely overlooked outside Taiwan was Trump’s suggestion that he may speak directly with Taiwan’s current president.

For decades, the US position has been that Washington does not support Taiwan independence, but neither does it explicitly oppose it. Xi failed to convince Trump to adopt Beijing’s preferred wording that the US “opposes Taiwan independence.”

In Taiwan policy, the difference between “not supporting” and “opposing” is enormous.

This mirrors Washington’s broader One China policy. The US recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole government of China, while stopping short of endorsing Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of the PRC. Official US policy therefore leaves Taiwan’s sovereignty undetermined.

That position differs sharply from Beijing’s One China principle, which China has pressured countries around the world to adopt for decades.

When reporters asked Trump aboard Air Force One about Xi’s opposition to Taiwan independence, Trump responded: “I heard him out. I didn’t make a comment.”

Again, this remained consistent with almost a half-century of US policy — acknowledging Beijing’s position without endorsing it.

The same silence was evident in the White House readout of the Trump-Xi meetings, where no mention of Taiwan policy was to be found.

Trump reiterated during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier in China that “nothing’s changed” regarding US policy toward Taiwan. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later reinforced the point during an interview with NBC News anchor Tom Llamas in Beijing, saying that “US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today and as of the meeting that we had here today.”

Taiwan’s Presidential Office responded last Friday by stating that “consistent US policy and position toward Taiwan remain unchanged.”

Following a long-established diplomatic formula, both the Presidential Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China (Taiwan), and therefore has no need to formally declare independence.

Many analysts argued that Xi’s two primary goals during the summit were to persuade Trump to explicitly oppose Taiwan independence and halt arms sales to Taiwan. Xi clearly failed to achieve the first objective.

Despite widespread speculation before the trip, Beijing secured no visible concessions from Trump regarding Taiwan’s status.

On arms sales, Trump also declined Xi’s request for an outright halt. Instead, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would soon make a determination regarding the pending US$14 billion (NT$420 billion ) arms package for Taiwan.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer later said in an interview with ABC News that Taiwan arms sales were not used as a bargaining chip during discussions with China. Greer added that Trump had made “really clear” to Xi that preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait remained the most important objective.

For most Taiwanese, the status quo means that Taiwan is already a democratic and independent country governed separately from China under a different political system, regardless of the country’s formal name.

Polls have shown for decades that over three-quarters of Taiwanese prefer maintaining Taiwan’s de facto independence and reject political integration with China.

That is the status quo successive US administrations have supported, including Trump’s. This is why American presidents traditionally say they “do not support” Taiwan independence while avoiding language that explicitly says they “oppose” it.

The ambiguity gives Taiwan room to continue operating as an independent country while allowing Beijing space for its own interpretation. Yet despite Washington effectively helping China save face diplomatically, Beijing continues pushing aggressively to change the status quo through pressure and coercion aimed at forcing Taiwan under its control.

Beyond the reaffirmation of longstanding Taiwan policy, the most significant development during the China trip was Trump’s statement aboard Air Force One that he intended to speak directly with “the person running Taiwan” regarding future arms sales.

That person is clearly President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

If such a meeting takes place, it would mark the first known direct meeting between a sitting US president and a sitting Taiwanese president since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Such a breakthrough would surpass even the phone call between then-President-elect Trump and former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in December 2016.

Whether a diplomatic breakthrough between the sitting leaders of the US and Taiwan occurs in 2026 remains uncertain.

What is clear, however, is that Taiwan emerged from the Trump-Xi summit in a stronger position than many analysts expected.

Before the trip, many feared Washington might significantly alter its Taiwan policy in Beijing’s favor. That did not happen.

For a country frequently portrayed as a bargaining chip in negotiations between the world’s two largest economies, preserving both the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and longstanding US policy toward Taiwan represents a meaningful victory.

Rath Wang is a political commentator based in Taipei focusing on Taiwan’s politics, media, civil society, and key issues influencing Taiwan’s future. He is a media producer and host of current affairs talk shows and podcasts and has worked on political campaigns and lived in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and the US.