Taiwan condemns Xi's push for tougher US opposition to its independence

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced remarks made by President Xi Jinping to President Donald Trump in Washington, where Xi urged the United States to adopt a firmer opposition to any move toward Taiwanese independence. The ministry called the comment a distortion of facts and an illegal attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to speak for the Taiwanese people, insisting that only Taiwan's citizens can decide their future through democratic means.

It also highlighted China's ongoing military pressure around the island and in the East and South China Seas as a destabilising factor. The Mainland Affairs Council dismissed Xi's narrative that China and the United States fought together in World War II, pointing out that the People's Republic of China was founded only in 1949 and that the Republic of China was the wartime ally. Analysts warned that a shift in U.S. wording could erode the strategic ambiguity that underpins American commitments to Taiwan, while Taiwan pledged to keep working with the United States and like-minded partners to preserve peace in the strait.