Donald Trump affirmed that Xi Jinping understood “the consequences” of a possible invasion of Taiwan by China, refusing to specify whether the United States would defend the island in the event of an attack, in an excerpt from an interview broadcast this Sunday, November 2 on the CBS network.
“You will know if it happens and he understands the answer to that question,” the US president responded to the question of whether the United States would intervene in the face of a potential military attack by Beijing against Taiwan, adding that the Chinese leader understood “the consequences” of such intervention.
An unmentioned topic?
Beijing claims sovereignty over the island, of which Washington remains the most powerful supporter.
However, Donald Trump had assured a few days earlier that, during his meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea, Taiwan “had never been mentioned.” “This issue was not discussed,” he added.
In this interview conducted on Friday and broadcast on Sunday on the CBS program 60 Minutes, he added that he could not “reveal his secrets,” specifying that “the other party knew.”
“They know the consequences”
The US president also stated that Xi Jinping and his entourage had “openly declared” that they “would never do anything while Trump was president, because they know the consequences.”
Taiwan’s autonomy continues to cause tensions between China and the United States, which Donald Trump and Xi Jinping appear to have avoided during their meeting, focusing instead on easing the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Source: BFM TV
