President Trump said Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping must decide for himself whether to use force against Taiwan.
The president told The New York Times about a potential Beijing-led action that Xi Jinping considers Taiwan “part of China, depending on what he wants to do.”
“You know, I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he would do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said days after the United States captured Venezuelan regime leader Nicolás Maduro.
“He may do it after we get a different president, but I don’t think he’s going to do it with me as president,” Trump continued.
He noted that Maduro’s arrest followed signs of a “real threat,” adding that the situation faced by China was not similar to that around the United States and Venezuela.
“There’s no people pouring into China. There’s no drugs pouring into China. There’s none of all the bad stuff that we’ve been through. There’s no opening up of prisons in Taiwan, there’s no people pouring into China,” Trump said.
“There aren’t that many people in jails. But there aren’t hundreds of thousands of people in jails and mental hospitals,” he added.
The Trump administration has described the Venezuela operation as part of a war against the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, face narco-terrorism charges in the Southern District of New York, in addition to charges of conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
While the White House defended the U.S. attack on Caracas, Xi Jinping stepped up military operations near Taiwan.
In recent weeks, Chinese officials have confirmed live-fire drills around the island that included 130 aircraft, such as fighters and bombers; 14 warships; and eight other official vessels from Beijing.
Lawmakers on the House Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party reaffirmed Washington’s alliance with Taipei and condemned the show of force.
“The purpose of these exercises is to intimidate Taiwan and other democracies in the region and undermine peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region. … By practicing coercive military scenarios and projecting force beyond its borders, the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to reshape the regional order through aggression and intimidation,” committee Chairman John Mullenar (R-Mich.) and then-ranking member Raja Krishnamurthy (D-Ill.) wrote in a joint report. statement.
They continued: “The United States stands with Taiwan and other democracies and will continue to work with partners to safeguard Taiwan’s security and maintain a free, open, and stable Indo-Pacific region.”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks about Xi Jinping.
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