Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Monday brushed aside concerns that China will launch an invasion of Taiwan and said he'd discuss US arms sales to the island during his trip to Beijing.
Asked if the US should keep selling weapons to Taiwan, a source of fury for Beijing, Trump did not answer directly but said, "I'm going to have that discussion with President Xi."
"President Xi would like us not to, and I'll have that discussion. That's one of the many things I'll be talking about," he told a gaggle of reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
He went on to suggest that his personal chemistry with Xi should be enough to keep the peace and maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific.
When asked about China's potential invasion of the island, Trump said, "I don't think it'll happen… I think we'll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don't want that to happen."
When asked to respond to Trump's remarks, Taiwan's foreign ministry vowed to "continue to strengthen cooperation" with the US and "build effective deterrence capabilities in order to jointly maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
Trump's comments came mere days before he will meet with Xi for a summit in Beijing later this week. They also come days after Taiwan passed a heavily downgraded but long-awaited $25-billion defense bill.
During a daily press briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that top-level diplomacy was "irreplaceable" between the US and China.
"China stands ready to work with the US to expand cooperation and manage differences in the spirit of equality, respect, and mutual benefit, and provide more stability and certainty for a transforming and volatile world," he said.