The Taiwan issue was raised at the latest meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping more to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing than to reach a major deal, according to Taiwanese experts quoted by CNA.
Xi Jinping met with Trump on Thursday for the second time this year after their talks in Beijing in May. China's state news agency Xinhua reported that Xi urged Washington to oppose Taiwan independence and approach the issue cautiously.
Wang Xin-hsien, an emeritus professor at National Chengchi University, said Xi placed the Taiwan issue in the broader context of stable U.S.-China relations.
He said Beijing views Taiwan as a key issue that could affect cooperation with the U.S. in areas such as trade, artificial intelligence and other topics.
Wang said China wants Washington to clearly oppose Taiwan independence. Beijing is also closely monitoring US arms sales to Taipei, as well as possible arrangements for Taiwanese President Lai Chin-te to transit through the United States.
Taiwan-China relations expert Wang Wu-yue from Tamkang University said that Taiwan's status remains one of the most important and sensitive issues in relations between Washington and Beijing. However, he said it was neither the most pressing issue between the two countries nor a topic on which significant progress could be expected.
According to Wang, this is why Taiwan was discussed more to keep differences under control than to reach a “grand deal“.
He added that Beijing considers careful management of the issue necessary to prevent it from disrupting broader bilateral relations between China and the United States.
China is also concerned about US arms sales to Taiwan, Lai's possible transit through the United States and high-level contacts between Washington and Taipei, Wang added. However, he said Beijing's concerns did not mean that Washington would stop arms sales to Taiwan.
He stressed that the United States and China have fundamentally different positions on the Taiwan issue. Therefore, according to him, the talks were focused on preventing the topic from becoming a source of conflict, rather than on trying to reach a comprehensive agreement.