US President Donald Trump has claimed that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is fully aware of the consequences of any military action against Taiwan, though he refused to specify whether the United States would intervene militarily.
In an excerpt from an interview with CBS News aired on Sunday, Trump said the topic of Taiwan “never even came up” during his meeting with Xi in South Korea on Thursday, their first face-to-face encounter in six years. When pressed on 60 Minutes about whether he would authorise US military action if China attacked Taiwan, Trump replied: “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that.”
Declining to elaborate further, Trump added, “I can’t give away my secrets. The other side knows.”
The president asserted that Xi and his inner circle had “openly said” they would not act against Taiwan while he was in office, “because they know the consequences.”
Beijing regards the self-governing island as part of its territory, while Washington, under its longstanding ‘One China’ policy, recognises only Beijing but supplies Taiwan with defensive arms.
The issue remains a major flashpoint in US–China relations, though Trump and Xi reportedly focused their latest discussions on easing trade tensions rather than territorial disputes.