Trump: Xi Told Me That China Will Not Invade Taiwan During My Presidency

SadaNews - Former U.S. President Donald Trump stated last night (Friday) that Chinese President Xi Jinping told him that Beijing would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office.

Trump made these remarks during an interview with Fox News before talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Reuters news agency.

During the interview on the "Special Report" program on Fox News, Trump added, "I’ll tell you, as you know, you have something very similar with President Xi and Taiwan, but I don’t think that will happen in any case as long as I’m here. We will see."

He continued: "President Xi told me: 'I will never do that as long as you are president.' And I said to him: 'Well, I appreciate that.' But he also said: 'But I am very patient, and China is very patient.'"

Trump and Xi had their first confirmed phone call during Trump’s second presidential term in June. Trump also said in April that Xi reached out to him, but he did not specify when that conversation took place.

China views Taiwan as an integral part of its territory and has vowed to reunify with the self-governing democratic island, by force if necessary. Taiwan firmly opposes China’s claims of sovereignty over it.

The Chinese embassy in Washington described the topic of Taiwan yesterday (Friday) as the "most important and sensitive issue" in Sino-American relations. Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu stated: "The U.S. government should adhere to the One China principle and the three joint communiqués between the U.S. and China, and handle Taiwan-related issues wisely, and seriously protect Sino-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Although Washington is the main supplier of arms and international supporter of Taiwan, the United States, like most countries, does not have formal diplomatic relations with the island.