U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal of three years of American policy toward Ukraine has raised concerns China might become emboldened to push its territorial claim on Taiwan, though experts say Beijing is most likely in a wait-and-see mode right now to see how the situation in Europe plays out.
In the past two weeks, Trump has falsely claimed Ukraine “should have never started the war,” said Ukraine “may be Russian someday” and questioned the legitimacy of President Volodmyr Zelenskyy’s government, while upending the longstanding American position of isolating Russia over its aggression by beginning direct talks with Moscow and voicing positions sounding remarkably like the Kremlin’s own.
Before heading to Washington for talks with Trump on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would emphasize “you can’t be weak in the face of President Putin.”
“It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest,” Macron said he would tell Trump. “How can you, then, be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?”
Like Moscow’s claim Ukraine is rightfully Russian territory, China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as its own. Chinese President Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking it by force.
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