Trump's Taiwan problem as he visits Xi in China

Donald Trump and his aides hope the president’s visit to China will pave the way for more Chinese purchases of American goods and a further opening of Beijing’s markets. But the pleasantries he exchanged with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a Thursday banquet (14 May) glossed over what appeared to be a major area of contention between the two countries — U.S. support for Taiwan. A Chinese readout of Trump and Xi’s closed-door talks noted that Xi warned Trump that mishandling the issue of Taiwan could lead to “clashes or even conflict”, describing it as “an extremely dangerous situation.” Trump declined to engage with reporters who asked him if he and Xi had discussed Taiwan during a visit to the Temple of Heaven earlier in the day. He replied “great” when asked how the talks were going. Asked about Taiwan specifically, he continued his previous thought. “Great place, incredible, China’s beautiful,” he said. When pressed further on whether he had talked about Taiwan, the president and Xi both stared into the distance as Trump avoided answering the question for the third time. Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent Find us on social: TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@independent Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/the.independent/ X (Twitter) / https://twitter.com/Independent Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline Download the iOS & Android app: https://tinyurl.com/2s3ts5dh Sign up to our newsletters: https://tinyurl.com/2bmw565x Help to support truly independent journalism. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund additional special reports and investigations from a free-thinking, award-winning newsroom you can trust: https://www.independent.co.uk/donations