Donald Trump’s visit to China was heralded as a success by both sides, securing deals on aircraft and semiconductors, and plans to make 2026 “a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations.”
After previously accusing China of “raping” the US economy, Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping it was an “honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the US is going to be better than ever before.”
But for the Beijing, the most lucrative prize of all was Trump’s comments on Taiwan.
The self-governing Indo-Pacific island has long been a point of contention between the US and China. Beijing believes that Taiwan is rightfully Chinese territory and has not ruled out using force to obtain it, while the US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with a method of self defence and has agreed numerous arms deal with the territory since 1979.
Shortly after the visit, Trump appeared to gently water down the American stance on Taiwan, suggesting he was not keen to offer them support in the case of attack and was wavering on a new arms agreement.
Will the US defend Taiwan against China?
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump said that Xi “feels very strongly” about Taiwan, but that he had “made no commitment either way.”
He later cautioned Taiwan against any plans to seek formal independence from China, telling Fox News: “We’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down.”
Trump was also noncommittal on the $14bn (£10bn) arms sale to Taiwan which is backed by both Republicans and Democrats, saying: “I may do it. I may not do it.”
President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he departs Air Force One at Beijing Capital International Airport on 13 May 2026 (Photo: Alex Wong/ Getty)This will no doubt be music to China’s ears. Beijing had made the issue central to the visit, suggesting that the entire relationship could fall apart without agreement on it.
In its overview of the meeting, China’s Foreign Relations Department said that US-China relations would enjoy “overall stability” if the Taiwan issue was “handled properly” – otherwise, it warned, “the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. “
“Taiwan independence and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” it said. “The US side must exercise extra cautionin handling the Taiwan question.”
The White House, on the other hand, made no mention of the topic in its readout of the meeting at all.
Donald Trump talks with Xi Jinping at the Zhongnanhai gardens in Beijing (Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AP)US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who joined the visit to China, told NBC News that Taiwan was discussed, saying the Chinese “always raise it … we always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics.”
“US policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today,” Rubio added.
Under the Six Assurances agreement between the US and Taiwan, China must never be consulted on arms sales with China.
Trump weakens support for Taiwan
But Dr Patrick Gill-Tiney, an international relations fellow at the London School of Economics, said that Trump’s hesitant position on Taiwan “does weaken support”.
“It is the issue of arms sales to Taiwan which would reveal the greatest information about current US support for Taiwan,” he said. “There is no doubt China wants this to end, so a pause or reduction be an extremely serious change, and might be read in Beijing as a signal that the US commitment is weakening.”
The US’s redeployment of troops from East Asia to the Middle East “weakens US deterrence and its ability to intervene”, while the use of missiles and interceptors against Iran severely depleted US stocks, Gill-Tiney said.
A motorcycle passes a CM-34 Clouded Leopard, officially Taiwan Infantry Fighting Vehicle (TIFV), during a tactical withdrawal simulation as part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, near the Port of Taipei in New Taipei on July 15, 2025. (Photo: Cheng Yu-chen/ AFP via Getty Images)However, he said long-term ambiguity around the US position and Congressional support for Taiwan would muddy Chinese calculations on Taiwan.
“The longstanding US position is already somewhat hesitant, so there’s a lot of uncertainty and risk surrounding what the US would, and wouldn’t do,” he said. “Taiwan is also a rare issue that retains significant bipartisan support in Congress – so this does constrain what Trump can do. Of course, given how prone to changing his position Trump is, it’s difficult for anyone to place huge faith in what he says.”
In response to criticism, White House officials noted that Trump approved an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December.
It is not the first time the US has been accused of cosying up to autocracies at the expense of American allies.
A spat between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, 28 February 2025. (Photo: Saul Loeb/ AFP via Getty Images)Trump’s warmth to Russian President Vladimir Putin sent shockwaves through Kyiv and its allies in Europe, and jeopardised Ukraine’s very survival. The US President falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war, temporarily paused American military aid, and backed a peace proposal which parroted many of Putin’s maximalist demands and left Ukraine a “tethered goat”, analysts said.
Trump’s threats to seize Greenland – the territory of American ally Denmark – threatened to implode the Nato military alliance and embolden Russian aggression, with Estonia’s defence minister saying the infighting was being “applauded by Putin”.
In 2024, the US President went as far as to say he would “encourage” Russia to attack Nato members who do not spend enough on their militaries.
While the Trump has his dropped threats to Nato and restored support for Ukraine, the incidents leave lasting scars on diplomatic relations, undermining American credibility as an ally. And as Trump’s support for Taiwan publicly wavers, leaders in Tapei will surely be left hoping that they aren’t the next ally to be forgotten.
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