US President Donald Trump said that he would speak to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te Lai — a move that would break more than four decades of diplomatic protocol and risk angering China — as the White House weighs arms sales to the democratic island.
“I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Beijing last week. “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” Trump said.
After wrapping up his trip to Beijing, Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to seize it by force.
Meanwhile, Lai said Thursday he would be “happy” to talk to Trump. On Wednesday, Lai said that “foreign forces” cannot decide the future of the democratic island, which relies heavily on US security backing to deter a potential Chinese attack.
Lai’s remarks came days after Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China.
Taiwan relies heavily on US support to deter any potential Chinese attack, and has been under intense pressure to increase its spending through investment in American firms.
The United States is required under US law to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defense, but it has been ambiguous on whether US forces would come to its aid. (AFP)
