Trump Reaffirms US Policy on Taiwan During Xi Talks, Envoy Says

US President Donald Trump reaffirmed during his recent talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he would not change US policy toward Taiwan, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz has said.

Beijing has long opposed US arms sales to the self-governing island and any diplomatic recognition of the government in Taipei. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during Trump’s trip to China on Thursday that “Taiwan independence” and peace in the region were “as irreconcilable as fire and water.”

“At the end of the day, [Trump] made no commitments either way, in line with our longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity,” Waltz told Fox News on Friday. “There is a whole line of thinking that if you basically indicate or tell China that we won’t be there, that it could embolden them as well,” he added.

“I think the president was quite clear that there is going to be a status quo going forward,” Waltz said. He added that there was a large backlog of weapons orders from Taiwan, but that it was up to Trump whether he wanted to cancel them.

The US maintains informal ties with Taiwan without recognizing it as a separate country. Although China has stressed that it seeks reunification with Taiwan through peaceful means, it has indicated that it could resort to force if the island formally declares independence.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said that “nothing has changed” and that he was “not looking to have somebody go independent.”

“And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” he added.

China has said it considers all contacts with the “separatist” government in Taiwan to be hostile acts. In 2022, Beijing condemned then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island and launched snap military drills in response.