Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the United States to take a more explicit position against Taiwan independence during a White House summit with President Donald Trump on September 24. China’s official Xinhua news agency publicised Xi’s request before the full US account of the meeting was available.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China, though the island has never been governed by the People’s Republic. Washington recognises Beijing diplomatically but maintains unofficial relations with Taipei and has traditionally said it does not support Taiwan independence. Xi’s appeal goes further in asking Washington to affirm opposition, a formulation analysts said could give Beijing grounds to describe US policy as more aligned with its own position.
Jennifer Welch of Bloomberg Economics said the change in wording would matter; Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution said Xi was connecting what Beijing calls strategic stability with Taiwan. Their assessments describe the significance of Xi’s request, not a change already made by Washington.
The White House had not publicly confirmed that Trump accepted the request. His response, and the language used in any official readout, remained unresolved. The exchange also comes as Trump has delayed a planned arms package for Taiwan worth about $14 billion, a decision he previously characterised as part of negotiations with Beijing.