China escalated its warnings to the United States over Taiwan this week, with President Xi Jinping telling U.S. President Donald Trump that the “Taiwan question” is central to bilateral relations and warning of “clashes and even conflicts” if it is not handled properly. The readout, released by China’s foreign ministry, presented Xi’s message as both firm and conditional, tying cross-strait peace to what Beijing frames as opposition to “Taiwan independence.”
In the account of their meeting, Xi said the “Taiwan question” is the most important issue in ties between Beijing and Washington. Xi also delivered a pointed warning on language used to describe Taiwan’s status, telling Trump that “ ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” according to the ministry statement.
The foreign ministry readout also warned of consequences for how the issue is managed. Xi said that if it is handled properly, the relationship would enjoy overall stability, but otherwise “the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” the ministry said in the readout.
The remarks reflect rising Chinese pressure on the United States and on Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway territory that could be taken by force if necessary. The U.S. is required by law to ensure Taiwan can defend itself, while its official policy has been described as strategic ambiguity—leaving unclear whether the United States would intervene militarily if China tried to reclaim Taiwan.
China has also pressed Taiwan’s diplomatic relationships and increased military pressure in recent years, according to the AP account. The report said Beijing has ramped up a campaign aimed at drawing away Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and has sent warships and fighter jets closer to the island on a nearly daily basis in recent years.
U.S. officials, meanwhile, sought to reinforce deterrence messaging while emphasizing continuity of policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that U.S. policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” and warned that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force, speaking in an interview with NBC News.
The AP report also set the dispute in historical context. It said China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, after the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war and the defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. It added that Taiwan later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy, and that relations have been tense since Taiwan first elected Tsai Ing-wen as president in 2016, when her Democratic Progressive Party argued Taiwan is functionally independent and its own sovereign state.
Analysts told AP that Xi’s remarks may reflect Chinese concerns about U.S.-Taiwan defense ties and whether Washington has offered any material concession to Beijing. William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, said in the AP report that if China had secured any meaningful concession on Taiwan from Trump, it would have been reflected in Beijing’s official readout of the leaders’ meeting; Yang said the lack of such mention and the relatively stern tone suggest Trump may not have budged on Taiwan in principle.
Another expert, Ma Chun-wei of Tamkang University in Taiwan, said China could also be worried that the Trump administration has veered away from standard diplomatic language on Taiwan. Ma noted that the latest version of the Trump administration’s national security strategy issued last December says: “We will also maintain our longstanding declaratory policy on Taiwan, meaning that the United States does not support any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.” Ma said China would want to show that the Taiwan issue is in China’s hands, adding that such an image would likely face criticism if it is not presented that way.
The warnings come as Taiwan remains a major manufacturing hub for sectors tied to advanced technology, including AI servers and computer chips, while the political and military rhetoric continues to frame Taiwan’s economic role as part of broader strategic competition between China and the United States.