Trump puts Taiwan arms sales, Jimmy Lai on agenda with Xi meeting

President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be on the agenda at this week’s Beijing summit.

Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan have been a flashpoint between the two countries; It drew a harsh response from Beijing, which accused the United States of violating the “one China principle” and warned that attempts to “contain China” through Taipei would fail.

“I will discuss this with President Xi,” Trump said Monday when asked about Washington’s long-standing support for Taiwan’s defense. “President Xi wants us not to do this, and I will discuss this issue as well. This is one of the many things I will discuss.”

This comes after Beijing reportedly pressured the Trump administration to reduce its security commitments to the island.

Trump is expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for talks covering a wide-ranging agenda, with the Iran war, trade, rare earth export controls and Taiwan among the main topics.

Trump administration It was reported that there was no progress in arms delivery Following the record $11 billion arms package approved for Taiwan in December ahead of the presidential summit.

“The United States will only harm itself by aiding Taiwan’s independence through arms sales. Any attempt to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to failure,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in December. he said.

Last Friday, Taiwanese lawmakers approved a $25 billion special defense budget for the purchase of missiles and other weapons from the United States; This was well below the $40 billion the government was seeking to counter an increasingly aggressive Chinese military.

Any rhetorical softening by Trump, however tentative, would be “the most destabilizing outcome” of the summit, said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Glaser said concessions elsewhere in exchange for “an implicit or explicit bargain that Washington grants Beijing a sphere of influence over Taiwan” could embolden China to take more assertive steps to erode Taiwan’s autonomy.

China claims the democratically governed island as its territory; Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party denies this claim.

Chinese officials described Taiwan as the “biggest risk point” in bilateral relations with the United States and called on Taiwan to “keep its promise and make the right choices to open new space for China-US cooperation.”

Trump said he plans to re-advocate for Lai’s release. A Hong Kong court in February He sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison on charges of collusion with foreign powers.

“Jimmy Lai caused a lot of turmoil for China. He tried to do the right thing. He didn’t succeed, he went to jail, and people want him out, and I want him out too.” Trump said On Monday. he had had previously called for Lai’s release In a meeting with Xi during the APEC summit in October last year.

Beijing, meanwhile, blamed foreign governments and made clear that Lai “must be severely punished in accordance with the law.” Interference in Hong Kong’s judiciary process.

Pro-democracy advocate Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December of colluding with foreign powers, endangering national security and conspiring to publish seditious materials. The 78-year-old man has been detained for more than five years. separate prison sentence Fraud accusations.

The 20-year prison sentence was the longest sentence imposed under the national security law enacted in 2020, surpassing the 10-year sentence given to activist Benny Tai, a former law professor convicted in November 2024 of conspiring to subvert state power.