Taiwan is up to Xi Jinping and nothing like Venezuela: Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has said the Taiwan issue was “up to” Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as he sought to draw a sharp distinction between the self-ruled island and Washington’s recent military action in Venezuela. In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump rejected suggestions that his audacious operation targeting the…
In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump rejected suggestions that his audacious operation targeting the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro could set a precedent that Beijing might apply to Taiwan.
Maduro’s government posed a direct threat to the United States that Taiwan did not pose to Beijing, according to Trump.
“This was a real threat,” he said of Venezuela, repeating his claim that Maduro had allowed criminals and drugs to pour into the United States.
“You didn’t have people pouring into China. You didn’t have drugs pouring into China,” he said, adding that Taiwan had not opened its jails or sent criminals across borders.
When pressed on Xi’s view of Taiwan as a separatist threat, Trump said: “That’s up to him, what he’s going to be doing,” but added that he had told the Chinese leader he would be “very unhappy” with any move against the island.
