New Delhi: In an unusual move, Chinese President Xi Jinping called US President Donald J. Trump Monday and discussed the situation surrounding Taiwan, and other issues. The call came as tensions are mounting between China and Japan over the future of Taiwan. Trump later announced that he will meet Xi in China next April, with a reciprocal visit by Xi to the US expected later next year.
“I just had a very good telephone call with President Xi of China. We discussed many topics including Ukraine/Russia, fentanyl, soybeans and other farm products, etc. We have done a good, and very important, deal for our great farmers—and it will only get better. Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social after the call with Xi.
However, Trump’s post made no mention of discussions about Taiwan’s future. Chinese state media, by contrast, was categorical in highlighting Xi’s comments to Trump on Taiwan, specifically that the country’s “return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order.”
“Noting that China and the United States fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism, Xi said that given what is going on, it is even more important for the two sides to jointly safeguard the victory of World War II (WWII),” Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency said was discussed in the call between Trump and Xi.
While Japan is not explicitly mentioned in China’s readout of the call, the US had fought against Tokyo during the war, leading to the eventual surrender of the Japanese government. In the eight decades since, Tokyo has become the US’ closest ally in the region. On 7 November, the new Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, had indicated that Tokyo could respond with its own forces in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
The self-governing territory has a democratic polity. However, China regards Taiwan as part of its territory. Over 180 members of the United Nations, including India, adhere to the One China Policy, which recognises Beijing’s sovereignty over Taipei. However, countries including the US have been focused on urging Beijing not to change the status quo by force.
The call between Trump and Xi comes barely a month after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and struck a deal to end the deadlock over trade. Ahead of the meeting with Xi, Trump described it as a summit between the leaders of the “G2”—highlighting the equal status placed to the US and China in international affairs.
For China, such a reference is important as it refers to the equilibrium of power between Beijing and Washington D.C. However, over the last decade or so, the US has rejected the “G2” classification.
“For China, the fact that the US, the power maintaining the current global order, has announced the relationship between D.C. and Beijing as equals through the term of a G2 has been read as a moral victory within Beijing. The call by Xi to Trump is an attempt to elevate the ties into a sort of strategic dialogue managed by the two leaders,” Sriparna Pathak, Professor, China Studies at the O.P. Jindal Global University explains to ThePrint.
She added: “The call by President Xi is unusual. It is unprecedented that he decided to make the call, indicating potential domestic pressures necessitating the call.”
Sidharth Raimedhi, a fellow at the Council for Strategic and Defence Research (CSDR) points out to ThePrint that the statements emanating from Beijing signals that it is “open to creating a fresh structure” of a G2, while rejecting the current “Trump-led American conception” of power equilibrium.
However, such a structure potentially requires that the “US moves towards the Chinese position on some key issues – with Taiwan being the most sensitive and core issue,” Raimedhi added.
“Xi may also feel that the time is somewhat opportune. He may feel that Trump has been persuaded of China’s power and higher status as a peer rival and one who has a legitimate claim to pursue core national objectives and perhaps even a sphere of influence,” said the fellow from CSDR.
Japan, Taiwan & Trade
Tensions between China and Japan have increased over the past two weeks, especially since Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan. There have been indications emanating from the US in the last few years that Xi is hoping to unify Taiwan with Mainland China before the end of the decade.
In that context, the firmer response from the Takaichi administration was “unexpected” in Beijing, Pathak explained.
“China did not expect such strong statements emanating from Tokyo. It has been used to more staid, calm, quieter statements and the recent statements by PM Takaichi has shaken Beijing. It shows the attempt by Xi to reframe ties with the US as a “historic” partnership built during WWII against fascism and militarism,” said Pathak.
The professor added: “The rhetorical reframing by Xi is similar to the statements from China and Russia to pin Japan as the revisionist power. Xi is hoping that Trump’s more circumspect position on Taiwan, along with the rhetorical reframing of the alliance between the G2 nations, could weaken the US’ ties with Japan.”
Raimedhi explains that the “immediate trigger for the higher priority emphasis on Taiwan is the ongoing dispute between China and Japan over Takaichi’s recent comments linking Tokyo’s security with that of Taiwan’s.”
The framing as a return to history between the US and China could be a move by Xi to “assure” Trump that any “hypothetical future reunification” of Taiwan with the mainland may not necessarily “lead to an overthrow of the Asia-Pacific security political system” at Washington D.C.’s “expense” points out Raimedhi.
For the US, however, the focus remains on a successful victory on the trade front with China. The October summit for Trump was focused on having China remove restrictions on the export of rare earths and magnets, while also purchasing soybean from the US. The Chinese had halted the import of soybean from the US earlier this year as trade tensions increased between the two countries.
While Trump has claimed after the October meeting with Xi that China has promised to purchase more American agricultural products—soybean in particular—Beijing has never confirmed making this particular promise.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)