Why Taiwan remains a key issue in China-US ties | Explained

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to press US President Donald Trump to stop arms sales to Taiwan when the two leaders meet in Washington this week. China has repeatedly called for an end to US weapons sales to the island, which Beijing regards as its most important and sensitive issue.

Beijing considers Taiwan a matter of Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity and objects to what it describes as interference by outside powers. Here is why Taiwan remains such a crucial issue for China:

What is China’s position on Taiwan?


China says Taiwan has been part of its territory since ancient times. The island was briefly made a Chinese province under the Qing dynasty between 1885 and 1895, before being ceded to Japan following a war.

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Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China government at the end of World War Two in 1945.

Beijing regards the Taiwan issue as an unresolved legacy of the Chinese civil war. In 1949, the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing to Mao Zedong's communists, who established the People's Republic of China in the same year.

China describes Taiwan as a Chinese province without the right to claim statehood. Beijing has never ruled out using force to bring the island under its control, although it says it prefers "peaceful reunification".

For Beijing, Taiwan represents its "core of core interests" and a red line that cannot be crossed. China regularly condemns high-level interactions between foreign leaders and Taipei, describing them as interference in its internal affairs.

How has China reacted to past US engagement with Taiwan?

China has responded strongly to high-level US engagement with Taiwan in the past. In 2022, Beijing launched major military exercises around the island soon after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.

Several more rounds of military exercises have followed in response to US engagements with Taiwan.

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China's most recent major war games around the island took place in late December. Earlier that month, the Trump administration had approved an $11 billion arms sales package for Taiwan, the largest such package at the time.

What is Taiwan’s position?

Taiwan is a thriving democracy and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Its government says the island is already an independent country called the Republic of China, which is also its formal name, and maintains that it has the right to engage with the rest of the world and elect its own leaders.

Taipei argues that the People's Republic of China has never governed Taiwan and therefore has no right to claim to represent the island or exercise sovereignty over it.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has repeatedly offered talks with China, but Beijing has rejected those overtures.

Neither the Chinese nor Taiwanese governments officially recognises the other. Beijing also refuses to refer to Lai as "president", instead calling him a "separatist".

Lai has said that since Taiwan is already an independent country, there is no need to make a separate formal declaration of independence.

What is the US view?

The United States ended official diplomatic ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing in 1979. However, under the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

The US does not officially take a position on Taiwan's sovereignty under its "One China" policy.

In 2022, the US State Department also added wording on the Six Assurances, referring to six security assurances given to Taiwan during the Reagan administration. The assurances were declassified by the United States in 2020.

Among the assurances made in 1982, but not previously formally made public, were that Washington had not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, had not agreed to consult Beijing before such sales and had not agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act that underpins US policy towards the island.

China has repeatedly demanded that the US stop selling weapons to Taiwan.

How does the US engage with Taiwan?

Washington maintains close economic and security ties with Taipei despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations. The US also operates a large de facto embassy in Taipei, known as the American Institute in Taiwan.

Taiwanese presidents generally visit the US on what are described as "transits" while travelling to or from diplomatic allies in Latin America and the Caribbean. They routinely use these visits to meet US lawmakers who are supportive of Taiwan.

The US and Taiwanese presidents do not speak directly to each other. Trump said in May that he would call Lai, but that call has yet to take place.

In late 2016, then President-elect Trump held a 10-minute phone call with Taiwan's then-president Tsai Ing-wen. Beijing responded with a diplomatic complaint and accused Taiwan of engaging in a "petty action".

(With Reuters inputs)