Lai says Taiwan will not be 'sacrificed or traded away' after Trump remarks

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Sunday that Taiwan "will never be sacrificed or traded away," after U.S. President Donald Trump cautioned Taiwan against declaring independence from China following his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

"Ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has long been a broad consensus and shared interest of Taiwan, the United States and all democratic countries around the world," Lai wrote in a Facebook post. "Taiwan will never be sacrificed or traded away."

Lai's comments came after Trump, in an interview with Fox News aired Friday and taped near the end of his two-day state visit to China, said that he did not want to see Taiwan declare independence, but instead hoped to see tensions eased between Taiwan and China.

"We're not looking to have somebody say, 'Let's go independent because the United States is backing us,'" Trump said.

Trump also said the U.S. was weighing a new round of weapons sales to Taiwan, but stopped short of saying whether he would approve the package. "I haven't approved it yet. We are gonna see what happens. I may do it, I may not do it," he said.

Lai said there has been considerable public attention on the Taiwan-related issues raised during the Trump-Xi meeting, and that he had been briefed by Taiwan's national security team on the latest developments.

In his post, Lai listed what he called the "greatest consensus" among Taiwan's people, including the position that the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) and the People's Republic of China (China's official name) are not subordinate to each other, that Taiwan's sovereignty must not be infringed upon or annexed, and that Taiwan's future should be decided by its people.

These points of consensus "are also the status quo we seek to defend, and there is no so-called 'Taiwan independence issue,'" he added.

On the issue of Taiwan-U.S. security cooperation, Lai said U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are based on the Taiwan Relations Act, describing them as not only a U.S. security commitment to Taiwan but also the most important deterrent against actions that undermine regional peace and stability.

"We thank President Trump for his continued support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait since his first term, including through the continued increase in the scale and value of arms sales to Taiwan, which have helped Taiwan strengthen its self-defense capabilities," he added.

Given China's refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and its continued military expansion, "continued U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and deepened Taiwan-U.S. security cooperation are necessary and key elements in maintaining regional peace and stability," Lai said.

The president also stressed that Taiwan is an important node in Indo-Pacific security, at the heart of global AI and semiconductor development, and an indispensable part of global supply chain restructuring.

Any action that undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is not only a blatant challenge to international rules and order, but will also have a significant impact on Indo-Pacific security, global supply chains and the world economy, Lai warned.