Trump on a possible Chinese move against Taiwan: 'I don't think they'll do anything when I'm here'

Donald Trump discussed Taiwan's future following his visit to China. In an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News, the president assured that the island is a central issue for Xi Jinping and that they discussed it. The Republican called Beijing and Taipei to "lower the tone" and assured that he would like everything to "continue as it is."

Trump is coming from a three-day state visit to China. There, he held several meetings with Xi, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The agenda covered trade issues, artificial intelligence and the war in the Middle East. The president highlighted achieving "fantastic trade deals."

During his visit to Beijing, the Republican spoke with Baier, who consulted him on the situation with Taiwan. Trump asserted that China would not take action on Taiwan as long as he remains in power, remarking that his leadership functions as a deterrent: "Now with me, I don't think they'll do anything when I'm here. When I'm not here, I think they might, to be honest with you."

He further remarked that China does not want an "independent" Taiwan, warning that it could lead to a rather "harsh" scenario and that "bad things would happen." In addition, Trump said he would like "all the Taiwanese chipmakers to come to the United States."

"But they have somebody there now that wants to go independent," Trump continued, in apparent reference to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. "Well, it's a very risky thing when you go independent. You know? They're going independent because they wanna get into a war and they wanna they figured they have United States behind them. I'd like to see it stay the way it is," he added.

Although it does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the United States is its main international ally and, under a law passed in 1979, provides the island with defensive capabilities to strengthen its deterrence.

The legal basis is the Taiwan Relations Act, a law passed by Congress and enacted in 1979 following U.S. diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China. The legislation states that the United States must make defensive capabilities available to Taiwan and maintain the ability to respond to threats that jeopardize the island's security or system.

However, in the interview with Baier, Trump cast doubt on the sale of a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan: "Well, I haven't approved it yet. We're gonna see what happens."