- According to the Financial Times, President Xi Jinping accused the United States of trying to trick China into invading Taiwan.
- According to the Financial Times, the Chinese leader made the allegations to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
- One expert told BI that this showed China was “genuinely surprised” by the attitude of US officials.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has accused the United States of trying to trick China into invading Taiwan but said China will not take the bait, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the Financial Times, Xi made the accusation during a meeting with European Commission President von der Leyen in April last year.
Xi has issued similar warnings to his own officials, a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times, but it marks the first time he has made such a claim to a foreign leader, the outlet reported.
During the meeting, Xi said Taiwan was at the “core” of China’s interests, adding that “it is an illusion and would be shooting itself in the foot if anyone expects China to compromise and make concessions on the Taiwan issue,” according to a press release at the time.
The statement did not address President Xi Jinping’s criticism of the United States.
For decades, the United States has adopted a policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan, positioning itself as Taiwan’s staunchest ally while not explicitly saying whether it would come to Taiwan’s aid if attacked by China.
But the mood in Washington DC appears to be changing, with Congress now more “openly supportive of Taiwan” than it was a few years ago, Graham Thompson, an analyst at Eurasia Group, told Business Insider in November.
Days after China conducted military exercises around Taiwan last month, a U.S. congressional delegation met with Taiwanese officials to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations.
During the visit, Rep. Andy Barr, co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, said there should be no “room for doubt” or “skepticism” — in the United States, Taiwan or anywhere else — about “America’s commitment to maintaining the status quo and peace in the Taiwan Strait,” according to the Associated Press.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the United States will defend Taiwan.
Kelly Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, told BI that Xi’s rebuke showed China was “genuinely surprised” and “shocked” by the US’s recent “aggression”.
“There are now many prominent figures in the United States who talk about Taiwan as the new Ukraine, and some even say Taiwan needs to be diplomatically recognised,” Brown added.
Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State under Trump, and former national security adviser John Bolton have also called for such measures.
Brown said this was a problem for China and “clearly a red line that cannot be crossed and if it is crossed China will have to respond.”
During a meeting in April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken not to cross China’s “red lines.” sovereignty, security and development interests;
Brown, who served as first secretary at the British embassy in Beijing from 2000 to 2003, said behind Xi’s “dissatisfaction” was a hope that other Western allies “may be able to calm the US down”.
Whether that will have any impact is another matter, he added.
Last week, Admiral Samuel Paparo, the top Pacific official, Said The Washington Post reported that if China invades Taiwan, the United States could deploy thousands of drones to create a “drone hell” that could buy time for the U.S. military to come to Taiwan’s rescue.
Correction: June 17, 2024 — An earlier version of this article misspelled the analyst’s last name. It’s Thompson, not Thomson.
