Hours after meeting with Xi, Trump changes tone on Taiwan; says US won’t travel 9,500 miles to fight their war

Hours after his two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) cautioned Taiwan against formally declaring independence from mainland China.

Speaking to Fox News after his highly-anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping, Trump said, “I’m not looking to have somebody go independent.”

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Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has already stated that the self-governing island nation, which China considers as its own territory, is an independent nation and doesn’t need to declare formal independence.

While the US has long been supporting Taiwan, it has not established formal diplomatic relations with the country even though Washington is bound by law to provide it with means of self-defence.

However, after his meeting with Xi, Trump seems to have moved away from that position as he said that the USD 11 billion weapons deal with Taiwan will be reviewed.

Trump said that he and Xi Jinping discussed the weapons sale in “great detail” and reportedly told the Chinese leader that he will speak to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

“I’m going to say I have to speak to the person that right now is, you know, you know who he is, that’s running Taiwan,” he told Fox News.

Trump said that the Chinese President “feels very strongly” about the Taiwan issue and “doesn’t want to see a movement for independence”.

According to Chinese state media, Xi told Trump that the Taiwan question is “the most important issue in US-China relations” and the two countries could “even come into conflict” if mishandled.

With the US already entangled in a conflict in the Middle East, Trump said that he doesn’t want to travel 9,500 miles to fight Taiwan’s war.

“You know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles (15,289km) to fight a war. I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” he added.