Trump-Xi meeting: Backing of world hailed

ARMS PACKAGE: Deputy foreign minister Francois Wu said that it would be in the US’ interests to move the arms sales forward, citing its semiconductor industry

Supporting Taiwan’s democratic political system and self-defense is aligned with the interests of the US and the international community, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said yesterday after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) reportedly pressed US President Donald Trump to openly oppose Taiwanese independence and further delay a US$14 billion arms sale package to the nation.

“China undoubtedly tried to score on the Taiwan issue, but would a concession on Taiwan be in the US’ interests?” Wu said on the sidelines of a forum in Taipei on the implications of a meeting between Trump and Xi at the White House on Thursday.

The two leaders reportedly discussed trade, artificial intelligence, Iran and Taiwan.

A missile is launched using the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement defense system in an undated photograph.

Photo: Screen grab from Lockheed Martin’s YouTube channel

It would be in the US’ “vital interests” to move the arms sales forward, allowing Taiwan to defend itself, and its free and democratic political system, so that “its 23 million people would not live under the same system as [people in] China,” Wu said.

Backing Taiwan’s self-defense and freedom is necessary for it to continue making contributions to the world in the field of semiconductors, he said.

Some media had reported that Xi likely pressed Trump to formally halt the planned arms sale package to Taiwan and publicly state his opposition to Taiwan independence during the meeting, Wu said.

However, “as far as I know, the US has not responded to these issues,” he added.

Wu referenced a joint statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun on Sept. 21 during the UN General Assembly in New York. The statement emphasized the importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait.

Wu also mentioned another joint statement issued during the UN General Assembly on Sept. 22 by the foreign ministers and high-level representatives of eight governments: Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea and the UK.

In the second statement, the officials stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, encouraged dialogue and opposed any unilateral attempts to change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.

The joint statements showed that US interests in Taiwan are “aligned with interests of mainstream countries,” Wu said.

Asked about Trump’s and Xi’s assertions that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the US fought side by side against Japanese aggression, Wu said that historical distortions are a tactic commonly employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“China has been aggressively pursuing narrative diplomacy and through information manipulation tries to replace our role in World War II,” Wu said, adding that his ministry will not stop countering China’s narratives in the international arena.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Xi told Trump at their meeting that “during the Second World War, Chinese and Americans fought shoulder to shoulder against fascist aggression. Chinese people have never forgotten that part of history, nor have the American people.”

Meanwhile, Trump invoked the First American Volunteer Group of the Republic of China Air Force, also known as the Flying Tigers, and praised the “bravery during their joint combat with Chinese soldiers and civilians against the Japanese invasion,” Xinhua reported.

Wu did not comment on Trump’s remarks.

Republic of China (ROC) and US forces fought against the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, with the Flying Tigers operating as part of the ROC Air Force. The PRC was not formed until after the war ended.

After the war, the ROC, led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), retreated to Taiwan in 1949 following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War by the CCP.