Following a meeting behind closed doors China's Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump on Thursday that the two countries could clash over Taiwan if the issue was not handled properly, an unusually harsh admonition that stood in contrast to the American leader's praise for his counterpart when he arrived in the Chinese Capital.
Bob Maginnis is a national defense analyst and president of Maginnis Strategies LLC. He believes the Chinese leader is very serious about Taiwan.
"Xi's warning was unusually direct in that he allegedly said that mishandling Taiwan would lead to ‘clashes and even conflicts.’ So Chinese officials, of course, often use carefully calibrated language like this that is very deliberate. Xi therefore appears to be warning Trump that Beijing sees Taiwan not as a secondary dispute but as a potential trigger for war between the U.S. and China."
Trump has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan, avoiding clear commitments on military defense while continuing arms sales and high-level engagement. He has repeatedly refused to confirm whether the U.S. would intervene if China invaded, stating, “I never comment on that,” and emphasizing that he does not want to “reveal my cards” in negotiations.
During his second term, Trump has authorized significant arms packages to Taiwan, including an $11 billion sale last December, but has also suggested Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defense and called it an economic competitor, particularly in semiconductors.
Maginnis doesn't think Trump is willing to risk war with China.
"Trump's all about a deal, and he's not going to press in a direction that he doesn't think that he can get a deal. He's not going to take the nation to war over Taiwan. I think that's the bottom line. "
