Donald Trump’s visit to China was heralded as a success by both sides, securing deals on aircraft and semiconductors, and plans to make 2026 “a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations.”
After previously accusing China of “raping” the US economy, Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping it was an “honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the US is going to be better than ever before.”
But for Beijing, the most lucrative prize of all was Trump’s comments on Taiwan.
The self-governing Indo-Pacific island has long been a point of contention between the US and China. Beijing believes that Taiwan is rightfully Chinese territory and has not ruled out using force to obtain it, while the US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with a method of self defence and has agreed numerous arms deal with the territory since 1979.
Shortly after the visit, Trump appeared to gently water down the American stance on Taiwan, suggesting he was not keen to offer them support in the case of attack and was wavering on a new arms agreement.
