TAIPEI: Taiwan said Saturday it is an “independent” nation, hours after US President Donald Trump warned the democratic island against declaring formal independence.
Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday where Chinese President Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory.
Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying out its threat to annex the island by force.
Taiwan “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China”, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
ear,” Lev Nachman, a political science professor at National Taiwan University, told AFP.
“The hope is that arm sales were non-negotiable, because it’s part of the six assurances, and what Donald Trump is essentially saying is that one of those assurances no longer matters.”
