Xi Jinping warns US and China could ‘come into conflict’ if Taiwan issue mishandled.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has reportedly told visiting US counterpart, Donald Trump, that the two countries could come into conflict if the issue over self-ruled Taiwan claimed by Beijing is mishandled.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said at their summit, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation.”
Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as telling Trump that if the Taiwan issue was not handled well, the two countries would clash or even come into conflict, pushing China-US relations into “a very dangerous place”.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up their meeting after about two hours of talks covering Taiwan, trade and other differences in US-China relations.
The meeting was behind closed doors and the White House didn’t offer an official readout afterwards, but China’s official Xinhua news agency said Xi told Trump that if Taiwan was not handled correctly, the US and China risked “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy”.
That followed public opening remarks at the Great Hall of the People in which Trump was full of praise for Xi, saying “you’re a great leader” and that “it’s an honour to be your friend”.
Xi was darker in his opening remarks, expressing hope the US and China could avoid conflict while saying that history and the world were asking “whether the two countries can transcend the “Thucydides Trap” (see earlier post) and forge a new model for relations between major powers”, the AP reported.
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