Xi calls Trump for mutual support on Taiwan, Ukraine

“Current scenario” is a reference to statements made by Japan’s Prime Minister on the 7th. Sanae Takaichi said that China’s “use of force against Taiwan” could represent a “situation threatening the survival” of Japan and lead to Japanese military intervention. Since then, Beijing has demanded a retraction, which it has denied.

According to the original Chinese report, in an excerpt translated by Gao, Trump responded to Xi: “China played an important role in winning the Second World War, and the United States understands the importance of the Taiwan issue for China.”

But the American president’s own report, released two hours later on his TruthSocial platform, did not mention Taiwan. He said they had a “very good” conversation on “many topics” and singled out “Ukraine/Russia”, adding:

“Since our extremely successful meeting three weeks ago in South Korea, there has been significant progress on both sides to keep our agreements up to date and accurate. We can now focus on the bigger picture. To that end, President Xi invited me to visit Beijing in April, an invitation I accepted.”

Regarding Ukraine and Russia, according to the Chinese report, Xi offered a defense of Trump’s negotiations: “China supports the efforts dedicated to peace and hopes that the parties will continue to reduce their differences and reach a fair, lasting and binding peace agreement as soon as possible, to resolve this crisis at its source.”

The Wall Street Journal newspaper stated that it was the Chinese side that initiated the call, which is an unusual initiative on Xi’s part, a sign of his willingness to engage in broader negotiations with Trump. The latter, before traveling to South Korea three weeks ago, stated that he would seek to convince Xi of a global effort by both parties for peace.