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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.
Taiwan on Thursday said Lai would be happy to speak with Trump.
Trump’s statement comes after his 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.
“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.
Responding to Trump’s warning on Saturday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked him for his support in peace efforts in the region but reasserted that it was a “sovereign democratic country.”
“Beijing has no right to claim jurisdiction over Taiwan,” it said, adding that the Taiwanese government would “continue to deepen cooperation with the United States, maintain peace through strength, and ensure that the security and stability of the Taiwan Strait are not threatened or undermined.”
