Why China might react badly to any call between Trump and Taiwan’s president
This is the second time in a week that Trump has said he wants to talk to Lai, dispelling initial speculation that his first mention of the issue after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping last week was a verbal slip.
Taiwan has said it would welcome Lai and Trump to speak, but no details of when that might happen have been confirmed by either Washington or Taipei.
Referring to the possibility of a “Trump-Lai” call on Thursday, China’s foreign ministry said the United States should “handle the Taiwan issue with extreme caution and stop sending wrong signals to separatist forces advocating Taiwan independence.”
That’s why such a call could infuriate Beijing.
WHAT IS CHINA’S POSITION ON THE TAIWAN ISSUE?
China describes Taiwan as its most important and sensitive issue because it concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and will not be questioned or interfered with by foreigners.
Beijing sees Taiwan as an unresolved issue of the Chinese civil war; The defeated Republic of China government flees to the island in 1949 after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s communists, who established the People’s Republic. Beijing calls Taiwan a Chinese province with no right to claim status as a country and has never shied away from using force to bring it under its control, but says it would prefer “peaceful reunification.”
China has routinely criticized any high-level agreements between foreign leaders and Taipei as interference in China’s internal affairs, saying Taiwan is “the foundation of its core interests” and a red line that cannot be crossed.
Neither the Chinese nor Taiwanese governments officially recognize each other, and China refuses to refer to Lai as “president”.
HOW DID CHINA REACT TO US’ PAST RELATIONS WITH TAIWAN?
China launched major war games around Taiwan in 2022 shortly after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, and has also conducted several other rounds of war games in response to US relations with Taiwan.
China’s last major war games near the island took place in late December. Earlier that month, the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sales package to Taiwan, the largest arms sales package ever.
WHAT IS TAIWAN’S POSITION?
Taiwan is a thriving democracy whose government fiercely rejects Beijing’s claims to sovereignty. Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, which remains the island’s official name, and that it has the right to engage with the rest of the world and elect its own leaders.
Lai repeatedly offered to meet with China but was rejected. Beijing calls him a “separatist”.
WHAT IS THE USA’S VIEW?
The United States severed official ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979, but was bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the island with means of self-defense. The United States does not officially take any position on Taiwan’s sovereignty under Washington’s “One China” policy.
In 2022, the State Department also added language to the Six Assurances, referring to six Reagan-era security assurances to Taiwan that the United States declassified in 2020.
The assurances, given in 1982 but not previously officially made public, include statements that the United States did not set a date to end arms sales to Taiwan, did not consult with Beijing in advance about such sales or revise the Taiwan Relations Act, which underpins U.S. policy toward the island.
China has repeatedly demanded that the United States end arms sales to Taiwan.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN TRUMP STARTED DIRECT DEALINGS WITH TAIWAN?
In late 2016, President-elect Trump had a 10-minute meeting with then-President Tsai Ing-wen. China reacted relatively tepidly, filing a diplomatic complaint and accusing Taiwan of committing a “trivial action”.
