President Donald Trump said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke “a lot” about Taiwan during their summit and expressed confidence that tensions over the island would not lead to conflict with China.
When asked aboard Air Force One on Friday whether a confrontation with China over Taiwan was possible, Trump replied, “We’ll be fine.”
“President Xi and I talked about Taiwan,” said Trump to reporters while traveling to Alaska. “On Taiwan, he does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation," Trump said.
Trump said Xi told him that he was opposed to Taiwan’s independence. “I heard him out,” Trump said. “I didn’t make a comment.”
According to the Chinese regime’s summary of the meeting, Xi cautioned Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could spark disputes between the United States and China and damage bilateral relations. The official U.S. summary of the talks did not mention Taiwan.
Trump has demanded Taiwan increase defense spending, and in December, the White House announced an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan, the largest ever to the island democracy.
Trump’s administration has authorized the sale, but it has yet to move forward.
Today, Trump said he had not yet made a decision on whether the major U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan can move forward, but he added, “I will make a determination.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that U.S. policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” and cautioned that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to try to take Taiwan by force. He also framed Xi's comments as standard practice.
“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” said Rubio, who was among the senior aides to join Trump for the talks.