President Donald Trump has said that he would be prepared to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss denuclearization and ending the war in Ukraine.
A meeting would take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit hosted by China in Shenzhen next month.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said that if the meeting happened they would talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization, as well as potentially Ukraine. Trilateral denuclearization has been on his agenda since the beginning of his second term.
“Not so much for Ukraine, because Russia frankly has been fine on Ukraine,” Trump said.
Xi has also been very fair on Ukraine, Trump added. “He hasn’t been very much involved.”
Mao Ning (毛寧), a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said she had no information about the meeting, according to AFP.
For Taiwan, Ukraine being excluded from a summit to decide its fate raises the specter of similar treatment.
Ironically enough, as an APEC member, Taiwan will be at the wider summit in Shenzhen while Ukraine will not. Due to pressure from China, Taiwan cannot send its head of state as other countries do. In recent years, former Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (林信義) has served as Taiwan’s representative, but news broke yesterday that he has declined the role this year. A replacement has not yet been revealed.
Trilateral conversations on Ukraine may happen in Shenzhen, but actual deal making will not, Wen-Ti Sung (宋文笛), China expert at the Atlantic Council, told Domino Theory. As the host of APEC, China will not want to “have its thunder stolen with big announcements from Trump-Putin during the summit.”
What is at stake for Taiwan is Washington’s reputation as a dependable security guarantor and consistent upholder of its moral positions, Sung said. “If the Trump administration is open to abandoning one partner out of convenience, then it can abandon another.”
Ukraine has reportedly run out of Patriot air defense missiles to defend against Russian attacks. Senator Thom Tillis said that someone in the Trump administration is preventing the transfer of new missiles from European partners to Ukraine. “Whoever that person is has the blood on their hands every bit as much as Vladimir Putin.”
Taiwan has been trying to buy new Patriot systems from the U.S., with a stalled arms deal understood to be held up by the administration for use as a bargaining chip with China. Before Xi’s visit to the U.S. last month, Tillis was among the senators who called for Trump to approve the sale.
“Arms sales to Taiwan serve American interests by deterring Chinese aggression, preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and demonstrating the credibility of U.S. commitments to our allies and partners.”
Leave a Reply