President Donald Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has assured him that Beijing will not take any action toward unifying Taiwan with mainland China while Trump is in office.
According to The Associated Press, the president told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that although Taiwan was not discussed during his recent meeting with Xi in South Korea, he is confident China will hold off on any aggression toward the self-ruled island.
“He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in an excerpt of the interview that aired Sunday.
The talks between the two leaders reportedly centered on U.S.–China trade tensions, though the question of Taiwan remains one of the most sensitive and high-stakes issues between the two superpowers.
U.S. officials have long expressed concern that China could use military force against Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is not required to defend the island militarily, but it must ensure Taiwan can defend itself and oppose any unilateral attempt by China to change its status.
When asked if he would deploy U.S. forces to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, Trump declined to answer directly.
“You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that,” Trump said, referring to Xi.
Successive U.S. administrations have maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” — deliberately avoiding a clear stance on whether the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, would not confirm whether Xi or Chinese officials gave Trump such assurances, but reiterated Beijing’s long-standing position on Taiwan.
“China will never allow any person or force to separate Taiwan from China in any way,” Liu said. “The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair, and it is the core of China’s core interests. How to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people ourselves, and only the Chinese people can decide it.”
The White House has not clarified when Xi or his representatives conveyed the assurances to Trump.
The “60 Minutes” interview — taped Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — marked his first appearance on the show since settling a lawsuit with CBS News earlier this year. The full interview is set to air later Sunday.
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