Wang Yi to Rubio: Taiwan Is Biggest US-China Risk
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- Wang Yi told Rubio in an April 30 phone call that Taiwan is "the biggest point of risk" in China-US relations, adding the issue concerns China's "core interests" and the US must "keep its promises."
- The call was the first publicly known conversation between the two top diplomats since the US and Israel began strikes against Iran on Feb 28.
- It came weeks before an expected mid-May Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, underscoring Taiwan's place at the top of Beijing's agenda, according to Reuters.
- Rubio was told the US should "make the right choices in order to open up new space for China-US cooperation and make due efforts for world peace."
- Wang and Rubio last met in person at the Munich Security Conference in February, after a fragile tariff truce was struck at a Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea in October.
- The Middle East situation was also discussed, though the Chinese readout provided no further details.
Why it matters: Beijing is signaling Taiwan will dominate the agenda at the mid-May Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. With this being the first top-level China-US diplomatic exchange since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began Feb 28, Wang's framing of Taiwan as the threshold issue puts the onus on Washington to make concessions before any broader cooperation proceeds.
