Copyright nytimes
When China’s leader, Xi Jinping, sits down with President Trump to address their worsening trade tensions, he will also be pursuing another, longer goal: persuading the American president to soften U.S. support for Taiwan. Mr. Trump has said that he wants to focus on trade when he meets Mr. Xi in South Korea, even if the Chinese leader presses him on Taiwan, the democratically governed island roughly 100 miles off China’s coast that Beijing claims as its own. But the diplomatic maneuvering raises a crucial question: how negotiable is American support for Taiwan, especially given Mr. Trump’s sometimes dismissive comments about the island? Chinese officials, analysts said, may seek at this and other meetings to draw Mr. Trump out on the issue, to have him clarify his position on Taiwan. Mr. Xi probably wants Mr. Trump to state that the United States does not support independence for Taiwan, experts said. Saying that would echo what previous U.S. administrations have said, but a clear statement of it by the U.S. president would be welcomed by Beijing, which has for years accused Washington of, in effect, encouraging Taiwan toward independence. Earlier this year, the State Department altered a web page about Taiwan, removing the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence,” drawing loud complaints from China.
