Xi warns US to be ‘prudent’ on Taiwan arms sales in call with Trump
China and Beijing are working to find areas of accord heading into an expected April state visit by Trump
Xi Jinping described Taiwan as “the most important issue” in China-US relations during a phone call with Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The Chinese president urged Washington to be “prudent” on arms sales to the island, stressing that he placed “great importance” on bilateral ties and hoped the two nations could find ways to manage their differences, state media reported.
The two leaders spoke about a range of issues, including the situation in Iran, worries over Taiwan, and trade issues that remain a source of tension between the world’s biggest economies.
Mr Xi said self-governed Taiwan was “China’s territory” and that Beijing “must safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“The United States must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence,” he warned.
“Just as the United States has its concerns, China for its part also has concerns,” Mr Xi told the US president. “If the two sides work in the same direction in the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit, we can surely find ways to address each other’s concerns.”
On Thursday, Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te said ties with the US remained “rock solid”, telling reporters that “all ongoing cooperation projects are continuing”.
In a goodwill gesture two months before Mr Trump’s expected visit to Beijing, the US president said Mr Xi would consider hiking soybean purchases from the US to 20 million tonnes this season, up from 12 million tonnes previously. Soybean futures rallied sharply.
Mr Xi and Mr Trump spoke hours after the Chinese leader’s virtual meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Both leaders publicly affirmed their personal stake in strong relations after the call, their first since late November.
Mr Trump said the call was “all very positive” and his relationship with Mr Xi was “extremely good” and that “we both realise how important it is to keep it that way”. An official Chinese government account said that Mr Xi said: “I attach great importance to Sino-US relations.”
Though Mr Trump has tagged China as the reason for several hawkish policy steps from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela, he has eased policy towards Beijing in the last few months in key areas, from tariffs to advanced computer chips and drones.
“Both sides are signalling that they want to preserve stability in the US-China relationship,” said Bonnie Glaser, head of the Indo-Pacific programme at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank.
Areas of tension and goodwill gestures
One key area of tension is on Taiwan policy. The US announced its largest-ever arms sales deal with Taiwan in December, including $11.1bn in weapons that could ostensibly be used to defend itself against an attack by Beijing. Taipei expects more such sales.
China views Taiwan as its own territory, a position Taipei rejects. Washington has formal diplomatic ties with Beijing, but maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and is the island’s most important arms supplier. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
“The United States must carefully handle arms sales to Taiwan,” Beijing said in an official summary of the meeting.
The dismissal or investigation into several senior military leaders in China has stirred concern about the implications for Beijing’s foreign policy. But Mr Trump downplayed the investigation into Central Military Commission vice-chairman Zhang Youxia, saying over the weekend that “as far as I’m concerned, there’s one boss in China,” and “that’s president Xi”.
The last nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States is soon to expire, raising the risk of a new arms race in which China will also play a key role with its own growing nuclear stockpile. Mr Trump has said that he wants China to be part of arms control. The Kremlin said it was a topic between Mr Xi and Mr Putin.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about whether arms control had been discussed between Mr Xi and Mr Trump.
Soybeans, airplanes and oil
Economic issues continue to be a flashpoint between the world’s biggest consumer and its biggest factory. Mr Trump has made tariffs on imports a pillar of his strategy to revive domestic manufacturing jobs. US vice president JD Vance on Wednesday unveiled plans for a preferential trade bloc of allies for critical minerals, part of an effort to eliminate one key area of leverage that Beijing has over Washington, given its control of key metals.
But the two sides are working to find areas of accord heading into an expected April state visit by Mr Trump to Beijing. Mr Trump and Mr Xi last met in person in October in South Korea, where a fragile trade truce was struck.
Soybeans are a key issue because struggling farmers are a major domestic political constituency for Mr Trump, and China is the top consumer. Overseas sales of US soybeans this year slumped to the lowest in 14 years due to trade tensions with China. Benchmark Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures surged more than 3 per cent to a two-month high after Mr Trump’s post.
China’s commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the soybean purchases Mr Trump mentioned.
In addition to soybeans, the leaders discussed Iran, Russia’s war in Ukraine, airplane engines and oil and gas, Mr Trump said.
Tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran after Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests last month, with Mr Trump weighing taking military action against the Middle Eastern country.
China has been Venezuela’s top oil buyer for years, and the sales helped Caracas repay massive loans to Beijing in debt-for-oil deals.
The Trump administration removed president Nicolas Maduro last month, and it has suggested that China will have to buy Venezuelan oil on US terms.
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