Xi Highlights China’s Position on Taiwan in Talks with Trump

Washington/Beijing, Nov. 24 (Jiji Press)–Chinese President Xi Jinping in phone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump has emphasized Beijing’s “principled position” over Taiwan, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. The U.S. and Chinese governments announced that the phone talks were held the same day. With tensions rising between Japan and China following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks about a potential contingency over Taiwan, China apparently aimed to drive a wedge between Japan and the United States by trying to draw Trump closer to its side. Trump and Xi just held an in-person meeting in South Korea on Oct. 30. Monday’s conversation is believed to be the first between them for mainly discussing Taiwan since Trump started his second term in January this year. Taking to social media after Monday’s phone talks, Trump said that U.S. ties with China are “extremely strong.” Noting that Xi has invited him to visit Beijing in April 2026, Trump said that the Chinese president will visit the United States for a state visit later next year. According to the Chinese ministry, Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s “return to China” from Japan after World War II is “an integral part of the postwar international order.” While avoiding mentioning Japan by name, he said that the United States and China “fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism,” adding that it is important for the two sides to “jointly safeguard the victory of WWII.” Xi thus underscored that Takaichi’s remarks did not conform to the postwar international order, in an apparent move to fire a warning shot toward Japan. According to the Chinese ministry, Trump told Xi that the United States “understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.” Trump himself, however, did not mention the Taiwan issue or the Japan-China relationship in his social media post. Usually, the Chinese ministry indicates in its announcements when bilateral phone talks between leaders were held at the request of the other country. Since the latest announcement did not include such a statement, the phone talk may have been requested by the Chinese side. Some experts say that China maintains its hard-line stance against Japan over Takaichi’s remarks possibly because it believes that the United States will unlikely complain about the Japan-China tensions amid improving ties between Beijing and Washington. At their October summit, Trump and Xi agreed that China would postpone its restrictions on rare earth exports by one year. They also agreed on Trump’s visit to China next April. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]