Trump held separate calls with Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that focused on tensions on the Korean peninsula, but China’s foreign ministry said Xi also invoked the thorny issue of Taiwan. Trump infuriated Beijing last week when he approved a $1.3 billion arms sales to Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing considers a breakaway province awaiting reunification. In their phone call, Xi acknowledged that Sino-US relations “have achieved important results” since that meeting, the foreign ministry said. But Xi also warned that relations “have been affected by some negative factors.”Xi said he hoped the US president will “properly handle” Taiwan issues in accordance with the “One China” principle. N.Korea a ‘growing threat’In its readout of the conversation, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed efforts to denuclearize North Korea and improve US-Chinese trade relations, but the US statement did not mention Taiwan.

Source: Manila Times July 03, 2017 07:07 UTC