Trump Silent on Taiwan at Xi Summit, Taipei Relieved
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- Trump emerged from Thursday's meeting with Xi calling it "great" but sidestepped questions on Taiwan, and the White House readout omitted the country entirely.
- Xi Jinping declared before the meeting that "Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan Strait were "incompatible" — a tone Atlantic Council's Wen-Ti Sung called "surprisingly firm for summit diplomacy."
- Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a swift retort, stating: "The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to one another."
- Crisis Group's William Yang said Taipei will be "quietly pleased" and would "welcome Taiwan being mentioned as little as possible," preferring silence over any departure from longstanding US policy.
- The Trump administration angered Beijing in December with an announced $11bn (£8bn) weapons package for Taiwan, and a separate ~$14bn package has reportedly been awaiting Trump's signoff for months.
- Taiwan's parliament ended a months-long impasse on Friday, passing a much-reduced $25bn defense budget to finance those purchases.
- Taiwan-based analyst Alexander Huang said Xi did not openly ask Trump for any Taiwan commitment, suggesting Beijing views the question as strictly between Taipei and Beijing — not a bargaining chip.
Why it matters: Taiwan's parliament broke a months-long deadlock to pass a $25bn defense budget the same day Trump left Beijing silent on Taiwan, giving Taipei both the weapons financing and the diplomatic ambiguity it prefers. With a pending ~$14bn US arms package awaiting Trump's signature and bipartisan Senate pressure mounting, Xi's refusal to even raise Taiwan as a bargaining item means the status quo holds — for now.
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