Taiwan fears it will be ‘on the menu’ at Xi’s summit with Trump

TAIPEI – A senior Taiwanese official expressed concern that US President Donald Trump might make concessions on the self-governed island in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that Taiwan was working hard to prevent such a scenario.

“What we are most afraid of is to put Taiwan on the menu of the talk between Xi Jinping and President Trump,” Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said in an English-language interview with Bloomberg News on April 24.

“We worry, and we need to avoid (that).”

Mr Trump is set to visit Beijing on May 14 and 15 for a summit with Mr Xi that is widely expected to include a variety of business deals and purchasing commitments.

It was delayed from late March because of the Iran war and the need for Mr Trump to stay in Washington. 

Taiwan – a democratic island claimed as Chinese territory by Beijing – is high on Mr Xi’s list of priorities.

At the meeting, Mr Xi is likely to press Mr Trump to agree to change the island’s status by opposing Taiwan independence.

A verbal confirmation of that or formal change in US policy would be a major win for Beijing.

Asked if the US has given Taipei any assurances that the language will not be changed, Mr Wu said: “Nothing is 100 per cent sure.”

A White House official said Mr Trump expects a very positive visit with Mr Xi and that the administration’s stance on relations with Taiwan, known as the “one China” policy, is unchanged.

Under the policy, the US acknowledges Beijing as China’s sole government without clarifying its position on Taiwan’s legal status.

The US has maintained unofficial relations with Taipei under that arrangement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment outside of normal working hours.

Mr Wu said that Taiwan was looking to increase common interests with the US and cited its semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s significant investments in the country as the primary reason for his optimism.

The “more we share a common national interest, (the) more I think we feel comfortable that we will not be put on the menu”, he said. “For now, we feel comfortable.”

While Mr Trump routinely talks warmly of Mr Xi, he has a number of advisers who are hawkish on China and who have intervened in the past, including when there was internal debate about whether to allow China to buy Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell chip, people familiar with the matter said.

Residual worry

The engagements between Taipei and Washington have been positive, the people said, but they added that it is impossible to get reassurance from the White House about what exactly will be discussed, or agreed to, at the Beijing summit.

They also said that Mr Trump’s aides do not know – and do not pretend to know – how the meeting will play out. That is in part what causes the residual worry.

US officials have deflected the question and say the meeting will focus on trade and investment matters.

They want to focus the Beijing trip on ensuring better access to critical minerals and rare earths that China in 2025 cut off through sweeping export controls.

While the flow of the metals and minerals has picked up since the two leaders reached an agreement in the autumn of 2025 in South Korea, the trade is still not back to the level it was before the controls took effect.

Another key outcome for Beijing would be restraining US arms sales to Taiwan.

Mr Trump in 2026 delayed a weapons package to Taipei after pressure from Mr Xi and said he was “talking to him about it”, and that he would be making a determination “pretty soon”.

The comment alarmed some officials in Washington and Taipei, as well as US lawmakers.

Still, people familiar with the deliberations believe the pause is temporary and that the package will move ahead after the May summit.

China’s ruling Communist Party considers Taiwan its territory and has vowed to claim it some day, despite never having controlled the democratic island. Officials in Taiwan reject that stance, saying that the island is de facto independent and has never been governed by Beijing.

Mr Trump told The New York Times earlier in 2026 that it was “up to Xi” what the Chinese leader would do with Taiwan but that it was unlikely he would move on it while Mr Trump is president and that the US leader would be “very unhappy” if he did.

The US this week seized an Iranian tanker that Mr Trump said contained a “gift from China” – possibly rocket fuel and other inputs. It came after the US leader said he had received written commitments from Mr Xi that China would not send arms to Iran.

“I was a little surprised but – because I have a very good relationship and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi,” Mr Trump said on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week.

“But that’s all right. That’s the way war goes, right?” BLOOMBERG