Trump claims Xi vowed no Taiwan 'invasion' during his presidency
3 Min Read
Beijing has not yet commented on Trump's claim.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, speaks as foreign minister Wang Yi, left, looks during the opening remarks of the EU-China summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 24, 2025 (AP)
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him Beijing would not attempt to "invade" Taiwan while Trump remains in office.
Speaking in an interview for Fox News on Friday, Trump said he had received direct guarantees from Xi that China would refrain from military action against Taiwan during his presidency.
“I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here,” Trump said on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me, ‘I will never do it as long as you’re president’. President Xi told me that and I said, ‘Well, I appreciate that’, but he also said, ‘But I am very patient and China is very patient.’”
The comments came as Trump prepared for high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which ended with no deal signed.
Beijing silent on Trump’s remarks
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s claims.
Trump and Xi held their first confirmed phone call of Trump’s second term in June, though the US president had previously said Xi had also contacted him in April without providing details.
China and Taiwan
China says that the self-ruled island of Taiwan is a breakaway province and claims control over the body of water that surrounds the island and separates it from mainland China, while insisting that Taiwan must be reunified with China, by force if it must.
The Chinese ambassador to Russia, Zhang Hanhui, stated on January 3 that reunification between China and Taiwan is imminent, asserting that "no one and nothing can stop" what he considered would be a historic event.
"China is closer than ever before in history to achieving the goal of the great revival of the Chinese nation, is full of confidence and has the strength to realize this goal, and also has more confidence, strength and is closer to achieving the complete reunification of the country," he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted in April of last year that foreign interference will not disrupt the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland, asserting that "differences in systems cannot change the objective fact that we belong to one nation and one people."
