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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration will not abandon long-standing US support for Taiwan in negotiations with China to reach a trade agreement. “If what people are worried about is we’re going to get some trade deal where we’re going to get favourable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan – no one is contemplating that,” Rubio told reporters on his plane Saturday en route from Israel to join President Donald Trump in Doha on their way to a regional meeting in Asia. Chinese President Xi Jinping has renewed a push for the US to change its long-standing policy that it does not support Taiwan’s independence. China has asked the Trump administration to officially declare that it “opposes” independence, a concession that would amount to a major diplomatic win for Beijing. Trump is scheduled to meet Xi next week while attending a regional summit in South Korea, their first in-person meeting since Trump returned to office in January. Taiwan is one of the biggest flashpoints in China’s relationship with the US, which is already fraught over issues such as trade, technology transfers and human rights. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. Washington is Taiwan’s biggest military backer, though Trump has suggested the island should have to pay for US protection. Trump was less definitive when asked earlier about US policy towards Taiwan on Air Force One. “I don’t want to talk about that now. I don’t want to create any complexity. The trip is already complex enough,” Trump said.
