Xi urges Trump to be prudent about arms sales to Taiwan in latest phone call

Washington, Feb. 4 (CNA) The leaders of the world's two superpowers discussed the Taiwan issue during a phone call on Wednesday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) urging U.S. President Donald Trump to handle arms sales to Taipei "with prudence."

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had an "excellent, long, and thorough" conversation with Xi, covering topics such as trade, military affairs, his upcoming trip to China, and Taiwan. He did not elaborate on the discussions about Taiwan.

Trump also said Xi would consider increasing China's soybean purchases from the U.S. to 20 million metric tons in the current season, up from the previously agreed 12 million tons.

Xi, meanwhile, told Trump during the call that the Taiwan question "is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," and that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

"The United States must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence," Xi was quoted as saying to Trump.

Xi's focus on arms sales followed Washington's approval last December of the supply of a record US$11.1 billion arms package to Taiwan.

One month earlier, Trump and Xi also had a phone conversation, but Trump did not say afterwards whether the Taiwan issue had been discussed.

Xi, however, said he had reiterated Beijing's position on the Taiwan question, underscoring that Taiwan's return to China was "an integral part of the post-war international order," according to a Xinhua News Agency report at the time.

On Wednesday, a White House official told CNA that the U.S.' policy regarding Taiwan has not changed.

"The U.S. One China policy, as our cross-Strait policies are collectively known, is based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the three U.S.-PRC Joint Communiqués, and the Six Assurances to Taiwan," the unnamed official said, in response to a CNA request for comment on the issue. "There is no change to our policy with respect to Taiwan."

In Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) told reporters Thursday that Washington and Taipei maintain close communication at all times.

To the best of his knowledge, Lai said, Trump reiterated the U.S.' long-held stance on Taiwan, based on the TRA and the Six Assurances, during his latest call with Xi.

"Taiwan-U.S. relations are rock-solid, and all ongoing cooperation projects are continuing," Lai told reporters during a visit to Changhua County.

The TRA, signed into law by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on April 10, 1979, pledges to provide Taiwan with defense articles and services to help maintain its self-defense capability.

Meanwhile, under the Six Assurances introduced by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration in 1982, the U.S. agreed not to consult with Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan and to remain neutral on the issue of China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.

On Wednesday, Richard Bush, a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and now a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said it was not clear whether Trump would make concessions on Taiwan in a bid to achieve a trade deal with China.

Any decision of that kind would depend on whether there is real progress on such a deal, Bush told CNA, when asked whether he thought Taiwan should worry about a possible development along those lines.

"But Trump will hopefully recall Taiwan's positive responses to the arrival of his second administration," Bush said.

Meanwhile, Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the U.S.-based German Marshall Fund, said Wednesday that she thinks Beijing is likely to press Trump to make concessions on Taiwan.

"But I doubt the Chinese will explicitly agree to 'give' anything in return," Glaser told CNA, when asked to comment on the issue. "They insist Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and that nothing can change that. Taiwan is non-negotiable."

"Making an explicit deal could suggest a willingness to bargain on Taiwan going forward," she added.