Senator Shaheen warns Trump over Taiwan — South China Morning Post
In the United States, in New York, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged President Donald Trump not to signal a weakening of US support for Taiwan ahead of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. This was reported by the South China Morning Post.
At the Concordia summit, Shaheen said she hoped Trump would not make statements during the meeting that could indicate a lack of support for Taiwan. She stressed that there is strong bipartisan support in the US Congress for Washington's longstanding position on the island.
Shaheen is the leading Democratic representative on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which considers matters related to the sale of US weapons abroad, including to Taiwan. The senator also noted that the island is a major producer of semiconductors that are important to the United States.
Talks at the White House
Beijing considers Taiwan part of China and says it seeks reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary. The United States and most other countries do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes changing the status quo by force and has committed to supplying the island with defensive weapons.
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China confirmed that Xi Jinping will make a state visit to the United States from Wednesday through Friday. Xi's talks with Trump at the White House are scheduled for Thursday, four months after the US president's trip to Beijing. An SCMP source said Chinese officials had asked the United States not to announce new arms sales to Taiwan before Xi's visit.
In March, Shaheen co-led a US Senate delegation to Taipei. China's Foreign Ministry condemned the trip and urged Washington not to send what it described as wrong signals to forces supporting Taiwan's independence.
Sanctions and Russia's war against Ukraine
Shaheen also said the leaders should discuss the development of artificial intelligence and related threats. She drew attention to the sanctions law Trump signed on Friday, calling it a strong signal to China and buyers of Russian oil and gas.
According to the senator, the law is meant to demonstrate to Xi Jinping that the US Congress is monitoring the support China provides to Russia, the aggressor state, as well as China's assistance in financing Russia's war against Ukraine. The document provides for tariffs of up to 500% on Russian imports and allows the US president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including China and India.
