Xi Warns Trump on Taiwan, Says Issue Could Lead to Conflict

Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the “Taiwan question” early in his summit with US counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday, warning that any mishandling of the critical issue could lead to conflict and push relations into an “extremely dangerous situation”. Taiwan was the “most important” issue in Beijing’s relations with Washington, Xi told Trump as they met at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, according to state news agency Xinhua. “If handled well, bilateral relations can maintain overall stability. If handled poorly, the two countries will face collision or even conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into an extremely dangerous situation,” Xi was quoted as saying. “Taiwan independence is fundamentally incompatible with peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the greatest common divisor between China and the US,” he said.