President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China had a lengthy phone call on Wednesday during which, Mr. Trump said, the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues — including Iran, the war in Ukraine and soybeans — ahead of Mr. Trump’s visit to China this spring.
But the call, which Mr. Trump enthusiastically described as “excellent” and “long and thorough,” included a warning from Mr. Xi about an issue that Mr. Trump has tiptoed around: the future of Taiwan.
In Mr. Trump’s description of the call, posted to his Truth Social account, he listed the issue of Taiwan among more than a half-dozen topics — “all very positive” — that the two had discussed. The call lasted almost two hours, according to people familiar with it. Mr. Trump said they discussed his trip to China for a high-stakes summit in April, as the two leaders have sought to ease tensions in recent months after engaging in an aggressive trade war shortly after Mr. Trump took office. The two last met in October in South Korea, where they agreed to a yearlong trade truce. The two did not discuss Taiwan during that meeting.
“The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,” Mr. Trump wrote in the social media post. “I believe that there will be many positive results achieved over the next three years of my Presidency having to do with President Xi, and the People’s Republic of China!”
But a description of the call from Chinese state media was much more forceful, and suggested that the issue of Taiwan was front and center.
Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump that the American position on Taiwan was “the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” it said, and asserted that China “will never allow Taiwan to be separated from China.”
“The U.S. must handle arms sales to Taiwan with extreme caution,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump, according to the description in Chinese state media.
It is not unusual for China to include the issue of Taiwan among its priorities in diplomatic talks with the United States, but the warning comes just months after the U.S. in December approved an arms package for Taiwan valued at more than $11 billion.
After the call, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that while it supports efforts to ensure regional stability and security, it would continue to strengthen its defenses. The ministry also noted that the United States has continued to sell arms to Taiwan.
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