Taiwan will closely monitor the upcoming meeting between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but the country's Foreign Ministry has no concerns about it, as it believes that the US administration's position on the island will remain unchanged.
This was stated by Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Jialong at a meeting with European and Ukrainian journalists, a correspondent for Suspilny reports.
“We understand that the US will not raise the Taiwan issue on its own, but if China does so, the US position will remain unchanged (the US does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state and does not have official diplomatic relations with it. At the same time, Washington also does not recognize the sovereignty of the PRC over Taiwan. At the same time, the US supports Taiwan politically and militarily – ed.),” says Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Jiaolung.
According to him, other issues should be raised at the meeting, including the trade deficit, drug trafficking, and the war in the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Rubio said that Taiwan could be a topic of conversation between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next week, emphasizing that neither country benefits from destabilization in the region.
Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing on May 14 and 15 amid growing pressure from Beijing on Taiwan. China has stepped up its activities in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, increasing its naval presence around Taiwan.
What is known about the conflict between the PRC and Taiwan?
The PRC authorities consider independent and self-governing Taiwan to be their territory and do not rule out the use of force to seize it. Taiwan considers itself a separate state from mainland China, has its own constitution and democratically elected leaders. The aggravation of relations between the countries occurred against the backdrop of the visit to Taiwan in the summer of 2022 of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. She became the first high-ranking American politician to visit Taiwan in the last 25 years. On December 26, 2022, Taiwan announced the largest violation of the island's airspace by the Chinese Air Force. In the past 24 hours, 71 Chinese Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, entered the island's air defense identification zone.
Since then, China has been steadily increasing pressure on the country: in particular, the PRC army conducted military exercises near Taiwan during the Chinese New Year. Also, on January 17, a Chinese reconnaissance drone entered Taiwanese airspace for the first time near the Pratas Islands.