‘Up to Xi’ how to handle Taiwan, but Venezuela no precedent: TrumpReuters, WASHINGTONUS President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. He also repeated his belief that Xi would not make a move against Taiwan during his presidency, which ends in 2029. "He may do it after we have a different president, but I don’t think he’s going to do it with me as president," Trump said. “The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair, and how to resolve it is a matter purely within China’s sovereign rights,” said Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇), a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington. Trump has largely avoided directly saying how he would respond to a rise in tensions over Taiwan.

Source: Taipei Times January 09, 2026 03:21 UTC