US President Donald Trump speaks throughout a maternal healthcare occasion within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Could 11, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
President Donald Trump mentioned Monday that U.S. arms gross sales to Taiwan and the imprisonment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai could be on his agenda for the Beijing summit later this week.
Washington’s arms gross sales to Taiwan have been a flashpoint between the 2 nations, drawing a pointy response from Beijing that has accused the U.S. of violating the “one-China precept,” and warned that makes an attempt to “include China” by way of Taipei had been set to fail.
When requested about Washington’s longstanding assist for Taiwan’s protection, Trump mentioned Monday that, “I will have that dialogue with President Xi.” “President Xi would love us to not, and I am going to have that dialogue. That is one of many many issues I will be speaking about.”
That comes after Beijing reportedly pressed the Trump administration to reduce its safety commitments for the island.
Trump is anticipated to fulfill Chinese language chief Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for talks masking a wide-ranging agenda, with Iran struggle, commerce, uncommon earth export controls, and Taiwan among the many central points.
The Trump administration has reportedly not moved forward with arms deliveries following a document $11 billion weapons bundle for Taiwan, licensed in December, forward of the presidential summit.
“By aiding Taiwan’s independence by means of arms gross sales, the U.S. will solely find yourself harming itself. Any try to make use of Taiwan to include China is doomed to fail,” Chinese language overseas ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun had mentioned in December.
Final Friday, Taiwanese lawmakers accepted a particular protection price range of $25 billion to purchase missiles and different weapons from the U.S., effectively in need of the $40 billion quantity sought by the federal government to counter the more and more aggressive Chinese language navy.
Any rhetorical softening from Trump, even an ambiguous one, could be “essentially the most destabilizing consequence” of the summit, mentioned Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program on the German Marshall Fund of america.
“A tacit or express discount through which Washington seems to concede a sphere of affect to Beijing over Taiwan” in trade for concessions elsewhere might embolden China to take extra assertive steps to erode Taiwan’s autonomy, Glaser mentioned.
China claims the democratically ruled island as its personal territory — a declare that Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Social gathering rejects.
Chinese language officers have described Taiwan as “the most important level of danger” within the bilateral relationship with the U.S., urging it to “preserve its promise and make the best selections to open up new house for China-U.S. cooperation.”
Lai’s launch
Trump mentioned he deliberate to once more advocate for the Lai’s launch. In February, a Hong Kong court docket sentenced Lai to twenty years in jail on fees of colluding with overseas forces.
“Jimmy Lai — he induced a number of turmoil for China. He tried to do the best factor. He wasn’t profitable, went to jail, and other people would love him out, and I would wish to see him out too,” Trump mentioned on Monday. He had beforehand known as for Lai’s launch in a gathering with Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit in October final yr.
In the meantime, Beijing has made it clear that Lai “must be severely punished in response to the regulation” whereas accusing overseas governments of interfering in Hong Kong’s judicial course of.
Professional-democracy advocate Lai, founding father of the now-shuttered Apple Day by day newspaper, was convicted in December for collusion with overseas forces, endangering nationwide safety, and conspiracy to publish seditious supplies. The 78-year-old has been in detention for greater than 5 years whereas serving a separate jail time period on fraud fees.
The 20-year sentence was the longest handed out below the nationwide safety regulation launched in 2020, surpassing the 10-year time period given to activist Benny Tai, a former regulation professor who was convicted of conspiring to subvert state energy, in November 2024.
