Donald Trump warned Taiwan on Friday against making any declaration of independence after Chinese President Xi Jinping sent him a message of rare firmness. However, the island reaffirmed on Saturday that it is an “independent” nation and that the U.S. position has not changed, AFP reports.
The American president made these remarks just before leaving Beijing, where his visit showed a certain degree of stability between the two superpowers, without achieving major progress, whether on trade or on Iran, China’s ally.
“I don’t want anyone to declare independence and, you know, then have us be forced to travel 15,000 kilometers to fight a war,” the American president said, according to an excerpt from an interview broadcast Friday by Fox News.
“I don’t want anyone to say, ‘We are proclaiming independence because the U.S. supports us,’” he insisted, adding that he had not yet made a decision regarding an arms sale to the island, whose main military supporter is Washington.
“I want Taiwan to lower the temperature. I want China to lower the temperature,” Trump also said.
On Thursday, with unusual firmness, his counterpart Xi Jinping warned him.
“The Taiwan issue is the most important matter in Sino-American relations. If it is handled properly, relations between the two countries — the U.S. and China — can remain stable overall. If it is handled incorrectly, the two countries will collide, meaning they will enter into conflict,” he told Donald Trump.
China considers Taiwan one of its provinces, which it has been unable to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It advocates a peaceful solution while at the same time reserving the possibility of using force.
Taiwan’s government announced on Saturday that the island is an “independent” nation, in response to the statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump, AFP reports.
“Taiwan is a democratic, sovereign, and independent nation that is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding that Washington’s policy remains “unchanged.”
“Regarding arms sales between the U.S. and Taiwan, this is not only a U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security, clearly provided for under the Taiwan Relations Act, but also a form of shared deterrence against regional threats,” Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry emphasized on the matter.
