Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed President Donald Trump to curb US arms sales to Taiwan during a phone call this week, underscoring the island’s central role in strained US-China relations and highlighting starkly different interpretations of the exchange by the two sides.
According to an official Chinese readout, Xi told Trump that the Taiwan issue was the most important and sensitive element in relations between Beijing and Washington, stressing that Taiwan “is China’s territory.” Quoted by China’s foreign ministry, Xi said Beijing would “never allow Taiwan to be separated” and urged the United States to handle arms sales to the island “with prudence,” framing the issue as a core matter of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Taiwan is a self-governing democratic island located about 100 miles off China’s coast. Beijing regards it as a breakaway province and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control. The United States does not recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan but is legally bound to help the island defend itself and has long called for cross-strait differences to be resolved peacefully.
The Chinese account of the call, released Wednesday, was notably more detailed than the brief US summary posted by Trump on Truth Social. In his post, Trump portrayed the conversation as positive and wide-ranging, listing trade, energy, Iran, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and military issues, as well as his planned visit to China in April, which he said he was “very much” looking forward to.
Trump said the two leaders discussed Chinese purchases of US oil, gas, and agricultural products, including soybeans, as well as aircraft engine deliveries. He described the talks as constructive and emphasized that US-China relations and his personal ties with Xi were “extremely good” and needed to be maintained.
Trump has previously said Xi assured him that China would not attack Taiwan during the remaining three years of his administration. However, some analysts fear Beijing may seek to leverage Trump’s interest in high-level visits and improved ties to push Washington into reducing arms sales to Taipei.
US arms sales to Taiwan have expanded significantly under Trump. China analyst Rick Fisher said the first Trump administration broke with decades of policy in 2020 by approving the sale of 300-kilometer-range ATACMS missiles. He added that a record $11.1 billion arms package approved last December could ultimately result in Taiwan acquiring more than 11,000 missiles, dramatically strengthening deterrence in the Taiwan Strait.
Despite Taiwan being a key strategic concern for Beijing, it was not raised publicly during an October meeting between Trump and Xi in Busan, South Korea, where the two leaders later announced a temporary reset in relations as they worked toward a trade deal.
In the latest call, Xi said he viewed relations with Washington as highly important but warned that they faced “winds and storms.” He said both sides had concerns that needed to be addressed through dialogue conducted in a spirit of “equality, respect and mutual benefit,” urging better communication, proper management of differences, and expanded cooperation.
Xi also emphasized the need for mutual trust and what he described as finding the “right way” for the two countries to get along in the coming year, promoting what Beijing calls “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.” The phrase “mutual respect” has long been used by Xi to signal demands that the United States ease its opposition to China’s political system.
The Chinese statement quoted Trump as saying that US-China relations were the most important in the world and that Washington wanted to see China succeed, adding that he understood Beijing’s position on Taiwan and wanted the two sides to keep relations stable during his presidency.
Trump has softened his rhetoric toward China in recent months, particularly after Beijing imposed new restrictions on rare earth mineral exports. This week, his administration launched an initiative to expand US and allied supplies of rare earths, seeking to reduce dependence on China’s near monopoly over materials critical to both civilian industries and military technology.
