Trump mum on U.S. defending Taiwan from China
President Donald Trump said Friday that he refused to answer Chinese President Xi Jinping directly when asked whether the United States would defend Taiwan if China attacked.
“I was asked this question today,” Trump told reporters. Air Force One On his way back to the United States from a two-day summit in Beijing.
“I was asked this question today by President Xi. I said I would not talk about it,” the President said.
Trump’s decision not to respond is in line with the United States’ long-standing “One China” policy, which leaves unclear the status of the island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.
The “strategic uncertainty” approach leaves open the question of whether Washington would come to Taipei’s aid in the event of a Chinese attack.
But since the United States began war against Iran in late February, analysts have expressed concern that China is in a stronger position to attack Taiwan due to the movement of U.S. Navy carriers from the Indo-Pacific region to the Middle East and the depletion of American ordnance as a result of their use against Iran.
“The Iran war has once again exposed deficiencies in the U.S. defense industrial base. If the United States does not act quickly this time, it may have to learn that lesson — the hard way — against China in the Indo-Pacific,” Seth G. Jones, director of the Department of Defense and Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, wrote in an analysis published earlier this week.
Trump’s comments on Friday came in response to a reporter who asked whether the United States would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China.
“I don’t want to say that,” Trump responded.
“There’s only one person who knows this. Do you know who it is? Me. I’m the only one.” he said and noted that Xi had asked him the same question before.
At the same time, his response to whether a pending arms sales package to Taiwan was on the agenda also raised questions.
“Actually, we have discussed everything regarding the arms sale in detail and I will make a decision,” he said. “But you know, I think the last thing we need right now is a war 9,500 miles away.”
Chinese state media, where Trump praised the Chinese leader, made no mention of Trump and his administration’s conversations about Taiwan; Analysts say this probably means the Chinese side does not like what is being said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with NBC News that the issue had been brought up, but “the United States’ policy regarding the Taiwan issue has not changed as of today.”
The Taiwan issue came into the spotlight on the first day of the 2-day summit after President Xi delivered a surprisingly harsh message about Taiwan, despite positive preliminary remarks about establishing stable relations and avoiding conflicts.
As the summit began, Xi warned Trump that if the long-standing issue of Taiwan independence was mishandled, there would be “conflicts and even clashes” between the US and China.
Chinese state news outlet Xi told his American counterpart that if the issue was not handled “correctly” the “entire relationship” between the two countries could be in “great danger”. Xinhua reported on Thursday.
According to Xinhua, Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan issue is the most important issue in China-US relations.”
There was an expectation ahead of the summit that Beijing would pressure Trump to change the US language in its approach from “does not support” to “opposes” Taiwan independence.
The changed words will be more of a statement of Taiwan’s status, bringing it more in line with Beijing’s view and sending a message about U.S. security commitments in the region.
Taiwanese expert Bonnie Glaser, who co-authored an article in the magazine this month Foreign affairsThere are strong reasons for Xi to delay an attack on Taiwan, he told CNBC in an interview titled “Why China Is Waiting: Beijing Is Playing a Long Game Against Taiwan.”
“The question is what the likely cost to China would be even if they were able to pull off a military takeover,” Glaser said.
“The cost of this would be prohibitive. There is no certainty of success. And the costs of failure are very high – including threatening the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] legitimacy,” Glaser said. “Massive purges in the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] “It shows that Xi is not ready to use force in the near future.”
“PLA’s preparedness has likely been significantly affected by the purges,” he said.
