The leaders of the world’s two largest economies came face to face this month. President Trump traveled to the Middle Kingdom for a summit with President Xi to discuss foreign relations, trade, and Taiwan. The meeting, originally scheduled for March, was postponed due to the war in Iran.
Making Deals
Trump expressed optimism after the meeting with Xi and touted his “great relationship” with the Chinese leader. “It’s a very positive thing to have these two nations getting along,” Trump said.
A statement released by the White House boasted of the trade deals secured with China, including an initial purchase of 200 Boeing planes and a commitment to $17 billion of soybean per year for the next several years.
Geo-strategic Policy
In addition to the trade commitments, the two countries agreed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that North Korea should be denuclearized.
One of the main sticking points between the U.S. and China was the issue of Taiwan. There is broad concern that China will eventually takeover its democratic neighbor. That would pose a threat to the U.S. because Taiwan is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of semiconductor chips, which power everything from “iPhones to airplanes,” according to the BBC.
The U.S. has long had a policy, extending back to the 1980s, that it would come to the aid of Taiwan. In 1980, President Reagan outlined American policy toward Taiwan according to the “Taiwan Relations Act,” saying, “any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means [is] a threat to peace and of ‘grave concern’ to the United States.”
After the meeting with China, the Trump Administration has been unclear how it will proceed vis-à-vis Taiwan. When asked by NBC if the summit changed U.S. policy about defending Taiwan, Rubio responded, “U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today.”
Trump, however, demurred. “I don’t want to say,” he told a reporter who asked if the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China invaded.