By Trevor Hunnicutt, Michael Martina, Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI, May 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. and Taiwan have not yet made concrete plans for talks between their presidents, four people familiar with the matter said, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion he might speak soon with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about the island’s defenses.
A call between the two leaders would be unprecedented and risks roiling Washington’s ties with Beijing, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory. U.S. and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979.
Trump said again on Wednesday he would speak with Lai, dispelling initial speculation that his first mention of it after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping last week was a verbal slip.
Trump’s initial comments about the call sparked surprise among officials in Washington and Taipei, according to two of the people familiar with the matter.
In the days since, officials from the U.S. and Taiwan have been in touch about the prospect of a call, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, but all four sources said no concrete plans have yet been put in place.
The White House and China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Beijing has warned Washington that such a call could damage their ties and unwind progress between the countries at the state visit, according to two of the people briefed on the messages.
Taiwan’s presidential office referred Reuters to comments Lai made on Wednesday. He said that, if he got the opportunity to speak to Trump, he would say China was undermining peace and nobody has the right to “annex” the island. Lai did not say whether any call had been set up.
TAIWAN A MAJOR FOCUS OF XI TALKS
Xi pressed Trump on Taiwan policy during a two-day state visit last week, warning him that mishandling the countries’ disagreements over the issue could imperil China-U.S. relations.
Following those meetings, Trump said he had not decided whether to proceed with a major weapons sale worth up to $14 billion to Taiwan, adding to uncertainty about U.S. support for the island.
On May 15, Trump told reporters that he would speak with “the person … that’s running Taiwan” before deciding whether to approve further arms sales. Trump said again on Wednesday that he would speak with Lai. “I’ll speak to him; I speak to everybody,” he said. “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem.”
Any decision by Trump to withhold arms would mark a stark shift in his approach. Privately, U.S. officials have told Taiwan to expect no change in policy, according to two of the sources.
Under U.S. law, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, and both Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to continue weapons sales.
On Friday, China deployed more than 100 naval and coast guard vessels across East Asia, a senior Taiwanese official said, citing Taiwanese intelligence. The official warned that Beijing could use the drill as a signal to Washington not to proceed with the call.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to take control of Taiwan, which is the U.S.’ largest source of advanced semiconductor chips.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, Michael Martina in Helsingborg, Sweden, Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis, editing by Ross Colvin)
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