US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.”
“He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said.
Trump made the comments in the context of a conversation about what lessons Xi might take away from Trump’s military operation in Venezuela.
Photo: AFP
Trump said he did not view the situations as analogous, because Taiwan did not pose the same type of threat to China that he has said the government of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro posed to the US.
He also repeated his belief that Xi would not make a move against Taiwan during his presidency, which ends in 2029.
“He may do it after we have a different president, but I don’t think he’s going to do it with me as president,” Trump said.
The Trump administration in a strategy document last year said that it aims to prevent conflict with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea by building up US and allies’ military power.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
The US has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but Washington is the nation’s most important international backer and is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Trump has largely avoided directly saying how he would respond to a rise in tensions over Taiwan.