Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize if he can convince Chinese leader Xi Jinping to refrain from using force against the island, Reuters reports, quoted by News.bg.
The United States is Taiwan's most important international supporter, despite the lack of official relations. Trump has not announced any new arms sales to the island since taking office earlier this year.
He is expected to meet Xi Jinping at an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in South Korea later this month.
Lai was referring to Trump's August statement that Xi had told him that China would not invade Taiwan while Trump was president. "We hope to continue to have President Trump's support. If he can convince Xi Jinping to completely abandon any military aggression against Taiwan, he will undoubtedly be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate," Lai said.
Trump said he deserved the award, which has been given to four of his predecessors. This year's winner will be announced in Norway on Friday.
When asked what he would tell the US president if they met, Lai said he would advise him to pay attention to Xi's actions: "He is conducting increasingly large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and expanding his military forces in the East China and South China Seas."
A few hours after his speech, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense reported another spike in Chinese military movements - 23 military aircraft and drones carried out a "joint patrol on combat readiness" around the island with Chinese warships.
Lai warned that China's increasing military actions go beyond the annexation of Taiwan. "Once Taiwan is annexed, China will gain greater power to compete with the United States on the international stage, undermining the rules-based international order. "This will also affect the domestic interests of the United States," he said.
He expressed hope that Trump would continue to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Given the lack of official relations, Taiwanese presidents do not hold direct talks with American leaders. Taiwan is working with key Western allies to address Washington's concerns that the country is not spending enough on its own defense. Lai has set a goal of raising defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030.
"I will say that Taiwan is determined to defend its national security," Lai said when asked how he would demonstrate his resolve to the United States.
The United States is legally obligated to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, adhering to a policy of "strategic ambiguity" that does not specify whether it would use military force if attacked by China.
Lai rejects Beijing's territorial claims and says only the people of Taiwan can decide their future. China calls Lai a "separatist" and has repeatedly rejected his offers of talks.