ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) 鈥� President on Friday indicated that he may still speak with Taiwan鈥檚 President Lai Ching-te 鈥� even after China has publicly urged him not to directly engage with the leader of the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.
Trump on his way back from meeting President in Beijing, saying that he intended to speak directly with Lai as he a $14 billion arms sale for Taipei that Congress approved earlier this year.
The U.S. president on Friday suggested that a call with the Taiwanese leader is still in play. 鈥淚鈥檒l always talk to him,鈥� Trump told reporters when asked if he still intended on calling Lai.
Such a call would mark the first direct dialogue between sitting American and Taiwanese presidents in many decades, and Beijing has discouraged Trump against such an engagement.
The Chinese embassy in Washington in a statement to the Associated Press this week said that kind of phone call could undermine progress in the delicate U.S.-China relationship and urged the Republican administration to 鈥渉andle the Taiwan question with utmost prudence鈥� and 鈥渁void sending wrong signals鈥� to officials in the democratically run island that China views as a breakaway province.
It would be an unprecedented phone call
Trump raised China鈥檚 ire when he from Taiwan鈥檚 then-President Tsai Ing-wen after winning the 2016 presidential election but before taking office.
Trump has raised the idea of a direct engagement with Lai even as he’s been more circumspect about whether he’ll move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Xi in Beijing. Congress greenlit the arms deal in January but it still needs Trump’s approval,
The president said last month he sees arms sales with Taiwan as a in the administration’s approach to Pacific policy.
At last month鈥檚 Beijing summit, Xi warned Trump that the is the most important issue in ties between China and the U.S., and that the two nations will 鈥渉ave clashes and even conflicts鈥� without proper handling of the matter, according to Chinese officials.
Trump had an unusual consultation on Taiwan during his Beijing visit
Trump鈥檚 discussion with Xi about the arms sales to Taiwan seemed out of step with the U.S. policy principles known as the Six Assurances. The nonbinding principles, formulated in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan, have helped guide the U.S. relationship with Taipei, according to analysts.
The second of the Six Assurances states that the U.S. 鈥渄id not agree to consult with the People鈥檚 Republic of China on arms sales to Taiwan.鈥�
Secretary of State during a series of congressional said that the United States’ Taiwan policy has not changed.
But Trump鈥檚 rhetoric has added a more foggy dynamic to the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, said Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 comments about Taiwan arms sales as a negotiating chip, combined with uncertainty around a possible Lai call, have created more ambiguity than Taipei would like,鈥� Singleton said. 鈥淭he real test is not the rhetoric. It is whether the pending arms package moves, and on what timeline.鈥�
Taiwan’s president is ready for a Trump call
If the call were to happen, Lai has said he would emphasize to Trump that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are crucial for global security, and make the case that China was acting as the 鈥渄estroyer鈥� of the strait鈥檚 peace.
Lai said he also would tell Trump that Taiwan鈥檚 increasing defense budget was a response to threats, and purchases of U.S. arms would be an essential means to safeguard the strait鈥檚 stability.
In 1979, Washington ended diplomatic ties with Taiwan as part of recognizing the People鈥檚 Republic of China, and the Chinese have reacted strongly after other engagements by senior U.S. leaders with Taiwan鈥檚 leadership.
After an August 2022 visit to Taipei by and five other Democratic lawmakers, China responded with that included launching short-range ballistic missiles over the island.
Trump repeats plans to call Lai despite Beijing pressure
The United States, under the policy, recognizes the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China, while still allowing for informal U.S. relations with the self-governing island.
At the same time, the U.S. has long agreed to ensure Taipei has the resources to defend itself though Washington has about how far it will go militarily to counter Beijing should it decide to take Taiwan by force.
After Trump’s Friday comments, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington reiterated its position that it intends to 鈥渕aintain close contact鈥� with the U.S. on arms sales and other issues.
鈥淲e will leave it up to the U.S. to announce if there鈥檚 any arrangements for President Trump to speak with President Lai,鈥� the office said in a statement.
China would view a phone call between Trump and Lai as more provocative than moving forward with the proposed arms sale to Taiwan, said Edgard Kagan, a former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia and senior State Department official handling East Asia policy issues under Trump and President Joe Biden.
Kagan added that it was notable that Trump continues to publicly state that such a call is a possibility after China had warned the U.S. administration against a Trump-Lai engagement.
If Trump bypasses a phone call with Lai, he may create the space to move forward with a new arms sales for Taipei while dulling the blowback from Beijing, said Kagan, who is now the China Studies chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
鈥淭his could give him the room to announce an arms sale, defuse the criticism that the U.S. is turning its back on Taiwan, and do it in a way that leaves the Chinese feeling there was some respect for their views,鈥� Kagan added.
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Madhani reported from Washington.
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