Trump Meets Xi in Beijing as China Urges US to Safeguard Taiwan Stability

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in Beijing on May 14–15, with Taiwan at the center of the U.S.-China relationship because Beijing views the island democracy as a breakaway province.

“Toggle Play Taiwan civilians sharpen self-defence skills ahead of Trump-Xi summit Taiwanese civilians are flocking to self‑defence courses, amid fears China could one day use force to seize the island it claims as its own”

Al Jazeera

Trump has demonstrated ambivalence toward Taiwan while returning to the White House, authorizing an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December but not yet moving forward with delivery, and he told reporters, "I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi."

Al Jazeera

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, through a call between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urged the United States to "make the right choices" to safeguard "stability" between the two nations, with Taiwan raised as a key issue.

Taiwan’s backers are concerned the island could be "on the menu" when Trump and Xi sit down, and retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery said, "I do worry that we have a transactional president".

In Taipei, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said, "(China) may attempt some maneuvering during the talks," while adding that the U.S. has repeatedly reiterated that its policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged.

A bipartisan group of senators urged President Trump to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, warning that "American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation" ahead of the summit.

The New York Times reported that the lawmakers said Taipei’s approval of a $25 billion special defense budget removed any remaining rationale for delay, while noting the package had stalled in the State Department for months.

AP News

The Politico account framed the risk that Xi could try to swap economic sweeteners for a backtrack on U.S.-Taiwan ties, quoting an Asian diplomat who said it would be a "great success for Xi" to make Trump say something good for China in public.

Politico also quoted Jonathan Czin, a former China analyst at the CIA now at the Brookings Institution, saying the danger is that "Trump doesn’t operate with that level of precision."

In a separate thread of debate, CNN reported Taiwan’s opposition leader Cheng Li-wun warned, "Taiwan does not want to become the next Ukraine," as Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature passed a watered-down version of President Lai Ching-te’s proposed defense package.

The stakes extend beyond arms sales because the summit agenda is described as spanning trade, technology, rare earth export controls, Taiwan, the Iran war, and artificial intelligence, with Chad Bown saying, "Virtually everyone has a stake in the outcome of this meeting."

“When President Trump arrives in Beijing aboard Air Force One for a , the top issue on the Chinese leader's mind won't be the global impacts from the Iran war and bottlenecked Strait of Hormuz”

CBS News

CNBC reported that China’s decision to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets and its ban on semiconductors from Nexperia China upended supply chains central to global automakers, with consequences across Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

Bonnie Glaser of the German Marshall Fund of the United States warned that any tacit or explicit bargain could be "the most destabilizing outcome" for Taiwan, saying it would be a "sphere of influence" concession to Beijing over Taiwan in exchange for concessions elsewhere.

In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that Taiwanese civilians are flocking to self-defence courses ahead of the Trump-Xi summit amid fears China could one day use force to seize the island it claims as its own.

Council on Foreign Relations analysis said the second issue likely central to the meeting is Taiwan, with Chinese readouts increasingly centered on Taiwan and Chinese scholars suggesting Beijing will press for a shift in U.S. declaratory policy and for U.S. pre-negotiation on arms sales.