By Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would speak with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.
“I’ll speak to him,” Trump told reporters. “I speak to everybody. … We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem.”
Trump’s openness to a conversation comes after his trip to China last week, which the U.S. president on Wednesday touted as “amazing.”
A conversation between Trump and Lai would be a significant diplomatic development as the U.S. and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979.
Any direct U.S.-Taiwan conversation would likely anger China, which sees the democratically governed island as its own territory.
After his meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping last week, Trump said he has not decided whether to proceed with a major weapons sale worth up to $14 billion to Taiwan.
Under U.S. law, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and both Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to continue with weapons sales.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Michelle Nichols)
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