Taiwan's government called Xi Jinping's remarks to Donald Trump about the island's future a “distortion of the facts,” saying only its people can decide Taiwan's future. Xi said he hoped the U.S. would oppose Taiwan independence.
China claims Taiwan as its territory, a position President Lai Ching-te and his administration reject. Taiwan's foreign ministry said sovereignty belongs to Taiwan's people and that the Chinese Communist Party has no right to represent them. It called China the “true disruptor” of regional peace, citing military threats around the island and in the East and South China Seas, and said Taiwan would keep working with the U.S. and other partners to safeguard stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. In May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, Trump said he was pausing a planned new arms sale to Taiwan, which he described as a good bargaining chip.
