Chinese President Xi Jinping called Taiwan the “most important issue” in China-US relations in a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Trump must be “careful” about supplying weapons to the self-ruled island, Chinese state media reported, citing a phone call from Xi to the US president on Wednesday.
Xi said he “attaches special importance” to the relationship with Washington and was hopeful the two sides would find a way to resolve their differences.
Trump also described his phone call with the Chinese president as “tremendous,” saying they had a “long and extensive” conversation.
The call between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies came after several Western leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Mark Carney, visited China in recent weeks. Many European countries now seem to be turning to China due to concerns surrounding the United States due to tariff wars and geopolitical reasons.
Trump is also scheduled to visit China in April, a trip the Republican president says he is “looking forward to.”
After speaking with Xi, he said Beijing was now considering buying 20 million tons of soybeans from the United States. China currently buys 12 million tons from them.
“The relationship with China, and the personal relationship between me and President Xi, is very good right now, and we both understand how important it is to maintain that,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The two leaders previously spoke by phone in November, when their discussions included trade, Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, fentanyl and Taiwan, according to Trump and China’s foreign ministries.
This time, in addition to Taiwan and soybeans, the two presidents also discussed the war in Ukraine, the current situation surrounding Iran, and China’s purchases of oil and gas from the United States, Trump said.
Regarding Taiwan, Xi called the self-governing island “Chinese territory” and said Beijing must ensure the protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“The United States must exercise caution when selling arms to Taiwan,” Xi was quoted as saying by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
China has long pledged to reunite Taiwan with the mainland, and has not ruled out the possibility of using force to achieve this.
The United States officially supports the “one China” policy, meaning that on paper it considers Taiwan to be part of China. However, for decades it has maintained a cautious diplomatic approach, keeping a “smokescreen” on the issue. Although it maintains formal relations with Beijing, it is Taiwan’s most influential ally and the island also receives the most weapons from Washington.
In December, the Trump administration announced a $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including sophisticated rocket launchers, self-propelled artillery, and various missiles.
Beijing called it an “attempt to support Taiwan’s separatism” at the time and said such a move would “only accelerate the dangerous and violent situation in the region around the Taiwan Strait.”
“If both sides work towards equality, respect and mutual benefit, we will definitely find ways to address each other’s concerns,” Xi told Trump on Wednesday.
Hours before his talks with the US president, Xi held a virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, media outlets in both countries also confirmed. The two leaders expressed enthusiasm for the strong ties between Beijing and Moscow, they said.
