A Taiwanese diplomat said today, Saturday, after a summit between the Chinese and American presidents in Washington, that the United States supplying Taiwan with weapons to protect its freedom and Taiwan supplying the world with semiconductors are in the American national interest.
On Friday, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a three-day summit without achieving any significant announced progress on a range of contentious issues, including Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory, according to Reuters.
Xi told Trump in Washington on Thursday that he hoped the United States would stick to the "correct position" of opposing Taiwan independence.
Speaking to journalists in Taipei, Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu wondered whether making concessions on Taiwan served the interests of the United States.
He said that “preserving military sales, giving Taiwan sufficient ability to defend itself so that it does not have to live under Chinese rule, and “allowing Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to continue to contribute to the world, all of these are important American interests.”
Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing's claims to sovereignty, is the main producer of advanced chips powering the artificial intelligence revolution.
Trump did not make any comments about Taiwan following the Washington meeting or about what he would do about a pending arms package.
In comments on the summit, Wang Hong-jin, a professor of political science at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, said that the results of the summit so far appear to be better than expected, as Xi did not appear to raise the issue of arms sales directly, and Taiwan was not the main focus of attention.
He added: “Looking at the results, a lot of things that we thought would be very bad did not happen.” He revealed that the Taiwanese government was in “continuous contact” with Washington regarding the summit.
In December, the Trump administration approved a deal to sell Taiwan weapons worth $11 billion.
Regarding the possibility of postponing a decision on the deal, given that Xi and Trump are expected to meet twice more this year at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and G20 summits, Wu said the government should pay close attention to the matter.
He added: “Of course, if we can get guarantees, that would be better.” “I think what we can do now is probably the best we can do, which is prepare as much as we can, communicate as much as we can, and deliver as much as we can.”
In Washington, David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, confirmed in a television interview that there had been no change in Trump’s policy towards Taiwan, including the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which stipulates the sale of weapons to the island.
The Taliban government announced the killing of 4 civilians, threatening “severe consequences” for the Pakistani army, following Pakistan’s announcement on Thursday of launching raids with fighter planes and drones on 10 sites in Afghanistan.
A resident of Kandahar, in the south of the country, reported on Thursday morning that the city, which is the main residence of the supreme leader of the Taliban movement, was subjected to an air strike.
The Taliban government spokesman confirmed on Thursday that Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan resulted in the killing of 4 civilians, vowing to respond to this “aggression.”
Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on the “X” platform: “The Pakistani military regime committed a new aggression and carried out an air bombardment in Kandahar (south) and in the provinces of Paktia and Khost... and 4 civilians were killed.” He added that these actions “will have serious consequences for the Pakistani army.”
An eyewitness reported that he heard the sound of a jet plane, followed by a loud explosion and a fire in the city center.
Hours later, Pakistani Information Minister Atallah Tarar said in a post on the “X” platform: “Pakistan carried out precise raids with fighter planes and drones on 10 sites in Afghanistan.” He added: “The strikes were deliberate, accurate, studied and proportionate, and were strictly limited to specific military targets and directly linked to attempts to launch attacks against Pakistan.”
For their part, local officials said that the Pakistani army targeted two sites in two provinces in eastern Afghanistan at night.
In details, the spokesman for the governor of Paktia Province, Muhammad Rasool Ahmadi, said that the air strikes targeted sites of the Taliban’s “203 Mansouri Corps,” without giving details about any injuries or victims.
The air strikes also targeted Khost Province, without resulting in casualties, according to Mustaghafir Ghorbaz, spokesman for the governor there.
While the areas along the border witness frequent strikes, Afghan cities are rarely targeted.
The Pakistani strikes on the border area this week came after an attack that targeted a police headquarters in northern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 31 people.
The United Nations also reported that at least three civilians were killed as a result of the strikes that targeted eastern Afghanistan earlier this week, while Pakistan announced that they resulted in the killing of 28 militants.
Following the outbreak of war between Afghanistan and Pakistan last February, Kandahar and the capital, Kabul, were subjected to air strikes, while weeks of violence resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Afghan civilians, according to what was announced by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Despite reaching a ceasefire agreement in March, mediation efforts led by several countries failed to reach a permanent settlement between the two parties.
Security issues constitute the main point of contention, at a time when Pakistan is demanding that Kabul curb the armed “Taliban Pakistan” movement.
Pakistan holds extremist groups, which it says are based in Afghanistan, responsible for the escalation of attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southern border province of Balochistan, but the Taliban government denies any Afghan involvement.
“Over the years, Pakistan has conveyed its concerns to both the Taliban regime and the parties negotiating with it regarding continuing to provide a safe haven for terrorist factions and their support networks on Afghan soil,” Tarar said via “X” on Thursday.
He added: “Instead of dismantling these networks and taking practical measures against those who use Afghan soil to launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban regime chose to escalate by launching hostile march attacks against Pakistan.”
Earlier, an armed attack on a police headquarters in Kohat, northern Afghanistan, resulted in the killing of at least 31 people.
The Ittihad Mujahideen Pakistan group, a faction linked to the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
