Taiwanese officials celebrated after Chinese President Xi Jinping returned from a three‑day U.S. visit without a significant agreement on the self‑governed island. The trip, his first to the White House in a decade, focused more on personal diplomacy than on resolving contentious issues such as Taiwan.
A tangible outcome was the extension of a trade truce between the United States and China by two months, set to expire on 10 November. U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer said details would be released on Monday. No further concessions on Taiwan were secured during the visit.
Xi pressed President Trump on Taiwan, urging the U.S. to “handle the Taiwan question with prudence” and to oppose “Taiwan independence.” Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and has not ruled out force. The U.S., bound by law to supply Taiwan with defensive arms, remained firm on maintaining the Taiwan Relations Act.
Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister Francois Wu praised Trump’s decision to continue arms sales, citing the importance of enabling Taiwan to defend itself and sustaining its semiconductor industry, a key driver of the global AI revolution. U.S. officials and Taiwanese scholars noted that the summit’s outcome was better than expected, with no direct focus on arms sales.
