Taiwan's ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island's president said on Thursday (February 5, 2026), hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone about topics that included the self-ruled island's future.
“The Taiwan-U.S. relationship is rock solid, and all cooperation projects will continue uninterrupted,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told reporters during a visit to textile merchants in western Taiwan.
Trump, Xi discuss Iran in wide-ranging call as U.S. presses China, others to break from Tehran
The comments came after Mr. Xi, in his first call with Mr. Trump since November, warned the U.S. President to be “prudent” about supplying arms to the self-ruled island, according to a readout of their call provided by China's Foreign Ministry.
Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy that China claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing prohibits all countries it has diplomatic relations with — including the U.S. — from having formal ties with Taipei.
