Trump warns Taiwan against independence after Beijing summit with Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump has cautioned Taiwan against formally declaring independence from China following a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, which ended on Friday, 16 May 2026.

The summit concluded without major agreements on the issues analysts identified as most consequential: Taiwan, Iran, rare-earth minerals, technology, and trade tariffs.

"I'm not looking to have somebody go independent," Trump told Fox News following the talks. "We're not looking to have wars."

He added: "If you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that. But we're not looking to have somebody say, 'Let's go independent because the United States is backing us.'"

Xi had warned Trump during the summit that Taiwan was "the most important issue in China-US relations," according to Chinese state media.

"If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation," Xi said.

Taiwan was not mentioned in Washington's official readout of the Beijing meeting.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he had made "no commitment either way" on Taiwan.

He declined to answer when Xi asked whether Washington would defend the island militarily — a position consistent with the United States' longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity.

Trump confirmed that no reduction in tariffs was discussed. The US had previously imposed duties on Chinese goods as high as 145 per cent before a partial trade truce was reached last year.

Trade commitments

Among the summit's tangible outcomes was a commitment by China to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, with Trump indicating the order could grow if the arrangement proceeded smoothly.

China also agreed to purchase what Trump described as "billions of dollars" worth of American soybeans.

Arms sales to Taiwan

On the question of arms sales to Taiwan, Trump told reporters he had discussed a pending weapons package with Xi "in great detail" but had not yet reached a decision.

BBC reported the package at approximately US$11 billion, while NBC News put the figure at US$14 billion. Trump said he would announce a decision "shortly."

Analysts cited by NBC News warned that consulting Beijing on the weapons package could violate longstanding US policy prohibiting such discussions, a development that alarmed supporters of Taiwan in the US Congress.

Trump also signalled he wished to speak directly with Taiwan's president — an unusual step, as US leaders do not traditionally hold direct conversations with Taiwan's head of government, given Beijing's opposition to such contact.

The United States does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but retains substantial unofficial ties and is bound by law to provide it with the means of self-defence.

Washington's established position is that it does not support Taiwanese independence and accepts there is only one Chinese government — a stance that forms the basis of its diplomatic relationship with Beijing.

In February 2025, the US State Department temporarily removed from its website a statement reaffirming its opposition to Taiwanese independence, a move Beijing said sent a "wrong signal to separatist forces."

US officials in Taiwan clarified at the time that Washington opposed any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.

Taiwan's response

Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Minister Lin Chia-lung said his government had closely monitored the summit and maintained communication with the United States and other partners to safeguard Taiwan's interests and deepen bilateral ties.

Lin described Taiwan as a "guardian of peace and stability" in the region and accused China of escalating risk through what he characterised as aggressive military actions and authoritarian oppression.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has previously stated that Taiwan does not need to declare formal independence, as it already regards itself as a sovereign nation.

Beijing has repeatedly described Lai Ching-te as a "troublemaker" and a "destroyer of cross-strait peace." Most Taiwanese people favour maintaining the current status quo over either formal independence or unification with China.

The conflict in Iran

The US-Israeli conflict in Iran loomed over the summit. Trump said Xi had promised not to supply military equipment to Tehran, though China's official readout made no specific mention of Iran.

Trump said he would decide within days whether to lift US sanctions on Chinese oil companies purchasing Iranian crude, adding that China remained a primary buyer of Iranian oil.

He warned that Iran's failure to engage on a nuclear agreement could result in what he termed "annihilation."

Washington's readout noted that Xi had expressed interest in purchasing American oil — a development that, if realised, could reduce Beijing's reliance on Iranian supplies and deal an economic blow to Tehran.

Jimmy Lai case

Trump said he raised the case of Jimmy Lai, 78, the Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher sentenced earlier this year to 20 years in prison on national security charges, but that no result came from the discussion.

"I did bring it up. It's a tougher one," Trump told reporters.

China has described Jimmy Lai, who pleaded not guilty, as the mastermind behind anti-government protests that gripped Hong Kong for months in 2019.

Critical minerals and strategic context

A one-year moratorium on export licences for rare-earth minerals — agreed at last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea — remained unresolved at the close of the Beijing summit.

A former senior Trump administration trade official, speaking anonymously to NBC News, said US efforts to develop domestic rare-earth extraction and refining capacity had been slow to materialise.

Craig Singleton, senior director of the China programme at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said in a statement that neither side had moved on the most important disputes.

"Technology, Taiwan, Iran, rare earths, and supply-chain dependence remain unresolved. The summit helped manage the moment, but the underlying contest now returns to the same pressure points," Singleton said.

China scholar Michael Pillsbury of the Heritage Foundation told NBC News that Trump had deliberately avoided ultimatums ahead of the summit to keep dialogue open — a departure from his approach during his first term in office.

The two leaders are reported to have discussed meeting a further three times this year: during a state visit to Washington, at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit, and at APEC.

The shifting balance of power

Comfort Ero, president and chief executive of the International Crisis Group (ICG), noted that China's overall power had grown substantially since Trump's first state visit to Beijing in November 2017.

US military officials now consider China a near-peer competitor. The Pentagon's national defence strategy describes China as the most powerful rival Washington has faced since the 19th century.

Xi had invoked the Thucydides Trap ahead of the talks — a concept suggesting that a rising power's challenge to an established one tends toward conflict.

Trump appeared to rebuff that framing on Truth Social, writing that Xi's reference to the United States as "perhaps being a declining nation" was directed at the record of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Returning to the White House on Friday, Trump described the Beijing trip as a resounding success.

"All I can say is, that was a great success. It was fantastic," he told reporters. "We made great deals, we did great trade deals, we had great relationships."

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning described the outcome of the visit as "a new beginning" in a post on X after Trump departed Beijing.

Trump appeared to concur, writing on Truth Social: "Hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!"