During a call yesterday that the US president hailed as “excellent,” China’s leader told Trump that he must “handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence,” according to a Chinese readout.
That was unusually specific language for Xi, who normally sticks to broad statements regarding the self-ruled democracy Beijing views as its own.
The warning comes less than two months after US officials signed off on an $11 billion arms bundle for the global chip hub, and ahead of Trump’s planned trip to China in April. Another four US weapons packages are in the pipeline, a senior Taiwanese defense official said last month, without specifying the value of those deals or what they’d cover.
It’s unclear if Taipei can even pay for more US weapons: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s special military budget has now been blocked 10 times by the opposition, which is pushing a smaller spending plan.
While Beijing is clearly concerned about US efforts to arm Taiwan, Xi stopped short of demanding Trump cease those sales altogether, suggesting a degree of measure in his dealings with the world’s No. 1 economy.
There are plenty of other points of friction, including the Trump administration’s push to squeeze China out from Central and South America.
On Taiwan, though, the US president’s coveted trip to China — and perhaps even his one-year trade truce with Xi — could be blown up if Beijing doesn’t feel Washington is taking its warnings seriously.
Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai, notes that Beijing’s readout of their call made no mention of Trump’s planned visit to China. That suggests two months or so out, it’s still not a certainty. — Colum Murphy