Xi's Taiwan remarks at Trump-Xi summit seen as warning to U.S.: Experts

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) Chinese President Xi Jinping's (習近平) Taiwan-related remarks during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing Thursday were seen by Taiwanese experts as a warning that Washington's handling of the Taiwan issue could risk major conflict with China.

Trump and Xi held a two-hour meeting in Beijing on Thursday morning, the centerpiece of Trump's first trip to China since returning to the White House in 2025.

After the meeting, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi told Trump that the "Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations," and that if it is not handled properly, the two countries could have "clashes and even conflicts," putting the entire relationship in "great jeopardy."

Xi also said Taiwan independence and peace across the Taiwan Strait are "as irreconcilable as fire and water," Xinhua reported.

Commenting on Xi's remarks, Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢), director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University, said they were "stronger" than those in the past, especially as Xi used words such as "clashes" and "conflict," which carried a military undertone.

Wang also noted that Xi's later references to "great jeopardy" and to Taiwan independence and cross-strait peace being "as irreconcilable as fire and water" showed that Beijing had raised its characterization of the Taiwan issue, making the remarks more forceful than in the past.

Similarly, Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁), a professor in the Department of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University, told CNA that Xi's remarks amounted to "a stern and strongly worded warning" from Beijing to Washington.

Xi was essentially warning that if Washington does not handle the Taiwan issue in line with Beijing's position, it could lead to "huge conflict" between the U.S. and China, Wang said.

Xi's warning could have been a "deliberate attempt" to put pressure on the U.S. side at the start of the meeting, and was possibly part of Beijing's strategy to set the agenda for the Trump-Xi talks, which are expected to continue when Xi visits the U.S. later this year, he added.

Later Tuesday, the White House issued a statement about the meeting that made no mention of the Taiwan issue, but included details such as the two sides having discussed ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.

Wang said that from Washington's perspective, Taiwan was never meant to be a major topic in this round of talks, and the U.S. side had no intention of engaging in serious discussions with Beijing on the issue, as there has been no major recent development involving Taiwan.

He said Beijing's account was therefore "somewhat misleading," as it appeared aimed at creating the impression that the U.S. and China were jointly handling the Taiwan issue, when the White House statement showed that was not the case.

Beijing could be trying to "manipulate the messaging" around the meeting, he added.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday afternoon that Taiwan's national security team maintains close contact with the U.S. side and there had been "no unexpected information so far" from the Trump-Xi summit.

MAC, Taiwan's top government agency for handling cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, also said Taiwan has received no indication it suffered any "harm" from the meeting between the two leaders.