President Donald Trump lavished praise on China’s autocratic ruler Thursday in hopes of winning favors during a visit but as of yet has received only a stark warning about U.S. support for Taiwan, the island democracy Xi Jinping hopes to conquer.
“You’re a great leader. I say it to everybody, you’re a great leader. Sometimes, people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it’s true. I only say the truth,” Trump said at the start of a meeting Xi hosted for Trump and his delegation in Beijing. “It’s an honor to be with you. It’s an honor to be your friend.”
In his public remarks, Xi offered no such admiration for Trump and spoke mainly of improving relations between the two countries. In a readout of the closed-door part of the summit, the Chinese government put out a stark warning about U.S. support for Taiwan, the island of 23 million China considers as its own.
“Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” the readout stated. “The U.S. side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.”
The White House summary of the two-hour summit made no mention of Taiwan at all.
