Statements come days after the President of the United States assured that China will not attack Taiwan
No person or country “has the right or legitimacy to say they can attack Taiwan”, said the island’s prime minister, in reaction to Donald Trump’s recent statements about the Chinese position.
“The Government wishes to unite with the people to strengthen Taiwan and ensure that no one has the right or ability to invade it,” said Cho Jung-tai, quoted by the Taiwanese public news agency CNA, stressing that the Republic of China – Taiwan’s official name – is a “sovereign and independent state”.
The statements come days after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, assured that China will not attack Taiwan while he is in the White House, evoking past conversations with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
“Xi openly said, and so did his people, that ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is President’, because they know what the consequences would be,” said the North American leader, in an interview with the CBS program 60 Minutes.
Trump refused, however, to reveal what kind of response he would give if China invaded Taiwan: “I don’t want to be one of those guys who says exactly what will happen. The other party knows what could happen.”
The two leaders recently met in South Korea, but avoided directly addressing the issue of Taiwan, according to Trump himself.
The United States is Taiwan’s main arms supplier and, although it does not maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei, it maintains an ambiguous policy of possible intervention in the event of aggression by China.
Beijing considers Taiwan an “inalienable part” of its territory and does not exclude the use of force to achieve what it considers to be reunification.
