Shao Yuqun on the Post-Summit Shift in Trump’s Taiwan Policy

"If war breaks out across the Strait because the Taiwan authorities push for 'Taiwan independence', the US will not send troops to intervene..."

I happened to be in Washington, D.C. at the time of Trump’s 13–15 May state visit to Beijing, and felt the concern among Democrats and establishment Republicans that Trump might throw Taiwan under the bus during his trip—either in private remarks to Xi Jinping or in a public statement.

Trump was quiet on Taiwan while in Beijing and there were probably sighs of relief on Capitol Hill as he boarded Air Force One. Yet moments later, Trump told reporters on board that he and Xi had discussed arms sales to Taiwan. Shao Yuqun (邵育群) in our translation below, reads this admission as a break with the Six Assurances that the US privately extended to Taiwan in connection with the August 1982 communiqué—specifically, the assurance that Washington would not hold prior consultations with Beijing over arms sales to Taiwan.

In his Air Force One comments, Trump also added that “the last thing we need right now is a war that’s 9,500 miles away”. He struck the same note in a Fox News interview with Bret B…