Donald Trump claims ¡°nothing¡¯s changed¡± on U.S. policy toward Taiwan. But the U.S. president¡¯s stunning remarks about support for the democratic island ¡ª and what they portend following his high-profile summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping ¡ª belie a shifting reality on the ground.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump questioned whether it made sense for U.S. forces to ¡°travel 9,500 miles to fight a war¡± and said he considered a pending $14 billion American arms sales package to Taiwan as leverage in his dealings with Xi, calling it ¡°a very good negotiating chip.¡±
Although not a formal shift in U.S. declaratory policy toward Taiwan ¡ª as some observers had feared he might do at the summit with Xi ¡ª Trump also broke with precedent by openly warning the government in Taipei against any push for formal independence,?
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