By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President Donald Trump has said China understands the implications of taking military operations in Taiwanese territory.
According to an extract of a CBS News interview broadcast on Sunday, the US leader did not specifically mention that Washington would defend the island.
Trump said Taiwan “never even came up as a subject” when he met the Chinese President, Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting in six years.
Asked on CBS’s “60 Minutes” whether he would order US forces into action if China moved militarily on Taiwan, Trump said, “You’ll find out if it happens, and he (Xi) understands the answer to that.”
Trump however declined to spell out what he meant in the interview conducted Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, adding, “I can’t give away my secrets. The other side knows.”
The US President claimed that Xi and those close to him had “openly said” that “‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences.”
China claims that self-governing Taiwan is its territory.
The United States’ longstanding policy recognises only Beijing but provides weapons for Taiwan’s self-defence.
The issue continues to provoke tensions, which Trump and Xi appeared to have avoided at their summit, focusing instead on easing the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
