Trump says he will speak with Taiwan leader as he weighs potential arms deal

0

BEĞENDİM

ABONE OL

News

0

US President Donald Trump has said he will speak with Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te as he weighs up a potential multi-billion-dollar arms deal for the island, marking a sharp change in diplomatic procedure.

A US president has not spoken directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when Washington recognised the People’s Republic of China and severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said: “I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody. We have that situation very well in hand.”

“We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” he added.

The statement comes after Trump’s state visit to Beijing last week where Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of the “Taiwan issue.”

China views the island, which has its own democratically elected government, as a breakaway province that must be brought under Beijing’s control, and Xi has not ruled out the use of force to make this happen.

Following their meeting, Trump issued a warning to Taiwan against formally declaring independence from China and appeared to question why the US would send military support in the event of an invasion should the island declare independence.

“I’m not looking to have somebody go independent and, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” he said in an interview.

“I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” he added.