Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned US President Donald Trump that mishandling the Taiwan issue could push relations between Beijing and Washington towards conflict and place bilateral ties in “a very dangerous place”, according to Chinese state media.
The warning came during a high-level summit between the two leaders in Beijing, where Taiwan reportedly emerged as a central issue amid rising tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, Xi described Taiwan as the “most important issue” in China-US relations and cautioned that failure to handle the matter properly could trigger direct confrontation between the two countries.
Trump, however, declined to confirm whether Taiwan was discussed during the talks. When asked by reporters about his meeting with Xi, the US president simply responded, “Great,” and did not answer follow-up questions related to Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island, part of its territory under the “One China” principle and has repeatedly vowed to achieve “reunification”. Beijing strongly opposes any move towards formal Taiwanese independence and objects to foreign governments maintaining official relations with Taipei.
Although the United States officially recognises Beijing’s position on the One China policy, Washington continues to maintain unofficial ties with Taiwan and remains the island’s largest arms supplier, making the issue one of the most sensitive flashpoints in China-US relations.
Following the Xi-Trump meeting, Taiwan thanked the United States for its continued support and accused China of being the main source of instability in the Taiwan Strait and the wider Indo-Pacific region.
“We are very grateful for the United States’ long-standing support for Taiwan,” a Taiwanese government spokesperson said, adding that China’s military activities were the “sole source of insecurity” in the region.
China has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and has proposed a “one country, two systems” model similar to the arrangement once used in Hong Kong. However, the proposal has found little support in Taiwan.
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have intensified in recent years, with Beijing carrying out large-scale military exercises and increasing air and naval activity near the island.
The US does not formally recognise Taiwan as an independent country but is legally required under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the island with defensive support and weapons.
Washington has also strengthened security ties with allies such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines in response to China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Only 12 countries currently maintain official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, though many Western countries continue to engage with Taipei through unofficial channels and representative offices.
