Brussels: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s warning that Taiwan could lead to “clashes and even conflicts” and place relations in “great jeopardy” during his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump in Beijing was not mere rhetoric, a report has stated.
As missteps in arms transfers, diplomatic recognition or military manoeuvres could trigger escalation amid little clarity in international law.
Jinping’s remarks were not a fresh warning but rather underscoring the fundamental reality of US-China relations: “beneath every summit, every trade negotiation, and every climate pledge lies the unresolved question of Taiwan,” Khedroob Thondup wrote in the European Times
He said that the issue remains the enduring fault line that keeps tensions constantly simmering beneath the surface.
“The United States’ ‘One China’ policy, born of the Nixon-Mao rapprochement in the 1970s and later formalised through the three US-China communiques, the 1979 normalisation of relations, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the Six Assurances, deliberately left Taiwan’s status ambiguous. Washington acknowledged Beijing’s position but did not endorse it, while maintaining robust unofficial ties with Taipei. This ambiguity was meant to stabilise relations, but in practice it institutionalised uncertainty,” Thondup stated.
“Xi’s warning to Trump echoes the language of successive Chinese leaders before him. Taiwan is the ‘core of core interests’. For Beijing, sovereignty is non-negotiable; for Washington, credibility in Asia requires resisting coercion,” it added.
According to the expert, there are several reasons that keep Taiwan at the centre of global politics.
“Starting with its geostrategic position, Taiwan sits astride the first island chain, a maritime barrier critical to US and allied defence planning. Its semiconductor industry makes it indispensable to global supply chains. Also, it has domestic legitimacy in China,” he stated.
Thondup highlighted that the Chinese Communist Party has linked its legitimacy to eventual “reunification” with Taiwan, adding that any perception of weakness on the issue risks internal instability.
He further noted that Taiwan is central to US alliance credibility, with Washington’s commitments to Tokyo, Seoul, and Canberra being judged by its resolve on Taiwan. Any sign of retreat, he said, would send shock waves across the Indo-Pacific.
“Summits between Washington and Beijing follow a familiar choreography; trade concessions, military hotlines, or climate cooperation are announced, but Taiwan remains the shadow issue. Xi’s blunt words to Trump underscore that beneath the surface of cooperation lies a contest over sovereignty and legitimacy,” Thondup stated.
(IANS)
