Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Commuters take the Tamsui-Xinyi Line MRT in Taipei, Taiwan in January 2025. Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17788912554711766039753284viber_image_2025-12-18_14-32-59-611.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Commuters take the Tamsui-Xinyi Line MRT in Taipei, Taiwan in January 2025. Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>BEIJING — US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Taiwan against declaring formal independence after concluding his visit to China, whose leader Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support the self-ruling island.</p><p>Trump ended the state visit claiming to have made &quot;fantastic&quot; trade deals, although the details were vague, and he did not appear to secure any breakthrough with China over his stalemated war on Iran.</p><p>Trump invited Xi for a reciprocal visit to Washington in September, signalling both sides will likely seek stability in the often turbulent relationship between the world&#x27;s two largest economies.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/12/taiwan-leader-warns-countries-in-region-next-in-case-of-china-attack-0956">Taiwan leader warns countries in region &#x27;next&#x27; in case of China attack<br/></a></div><p>On a key issue for Xi, Trump made clear he opposed a declaration of independence by Taiwan and appeared to question why the United States would defend the island in case of attack.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not looking to have somebody go independent. And, you know, we&#x27;re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I&#x27;m not looking for that,&quot; he told Fox News&#x27; &quot;Special Report with Bret Baier.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,&quot; Trump said.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China&#x27;s going to be OK with that.&quot;</p><p>The United States recognizes only Beijing and does not support formal independence by Taiwan, but historically has stopped short of explicitly saying it opposes independence.</p><p>Under US law, the United States is required to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defense, but it has been ambiguous on whether US forces would come to the island&#x27;s aid.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/14/subdued-trump-left-waiting-for-big-hug-from-xi-1906">Subdued Trump left waiting for &#x27;big hug&#x27; from Xi<br/></a></div><p>Xi had begun the summit with a warning on Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te considers the island already independent, making a declaration unnecessary.</p><p>Xi told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue could cause &quot;conflict&quot;.</p><p>Referring to comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said US policy toward Taipei was unchanged, Taiwan&#x27;s foreign ministry thanked the United States for showing &quot;it supports and values Taiwan Strait peace and stability&quot;.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>No details on &#x27;fantastic&#x27; deals</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>On Friday, Boeing confirmed that China had made an &quot;initial commitment&quot; to buy 200 aircraft, a deal previously announced by Trump. The company said more orders could follow.</p><p>Trump also said Beijing would buy American oil and soybeans.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,&quot; he said after a walk with Xi in the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing&#x27;s Forbidden City.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn&#x27;t have been able to solve,&quot; Trump added, without providing specifics.</p><p>Xi promised to send Trump rose seeds for the White House Rose Garden and said it was a &quot;milestone visit&quot;.</p><p>But beyond Boeing, there were no other formal announcements from companies or from China on trade deals.</p><p>The reserve on the Chinese side echoes the tone of the summit as a whole, where Trump&#x27;s overtures to Xi — whom he described as a &quot;great leader&quot; and &quot;friend&quot; — were met with a more muted response.</p><p>&quot;Trump got the optics he was looking for and the Chinese were happy to give them to him,&quot; said Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/14/trump-xi-agreed-strait-of-hormuz-must-remain-open-white-house-1905">Trump, Xi agreed Strait of Hormuz &#x27;must remain open&#x27;: White House</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Little on Iran</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Trump had delayed the trip once due to the war in Iran, which has rebuffed his appeals for a peace agreement and retaliated by exerting control over the key Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices soaring.</p><p>Trump said Xi had assured him that China was not preparing military aid to Iran. Israel has alleged that Beijing has provided key missile technology to Tehran.</p><p>The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday released a statement on Iran saying &quot;shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible&quot;.</p><p>Trump also acknowledged that he could not persuade Xi to free Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon whose cause is broadly backed in Washington.</p><p>&quot;He told me, Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do,&quot; Trump told reporters.</p><p>Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund&#x27;s Indo-Pacific program, noted that Trump had already sounded half-hearted in his public comments on Lai.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/9/hong-kong-sentences-pro-democracy-mogul-jimmy-lai-to-20-years-in-jail-1047">Hong Kong sentences pro-democracy mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in jail<br/></a></div><p>&quot;My sense is that the Chinese see that this is not a top priority for the United States,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;What Trump seems to want most is purchases of American products — that appears to be his highest priority.&quot;</p><p>The two leaders had been expected to discuss extending the one-year tariff truce that paused their frenetic 2025 trade war, struck during their last meeting in October.</p><p>But Trump told reporters on the way home that it &quot;wasn&#x27;t brought up&quot;.</p><div><br/></div><div><em>burs-sct/sst/acb</em></div>

<p>US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Taiwan against declaring formal independence after concluding his visit to China, whose leader Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support the self-ruling island.</p>

US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Taiwan against declaring formal independence after concluding his visit to China, whose leader Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support the self-ruling island.

Trump warns against Taiwan independence after China visit

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Trump warns against Taiwan independence after China visit

Agence France-Presse

Published May 16, 2026 08:31 AM PHT

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