Taiwan tops Beijing’s agenda for Trump-Xi summit

Wednesday 29 April 2026 - 11:00

Taiwan is expected to become a central issue in the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, highlighting once again the deep strategic tensions between Washington and Beijing.

For China, Taiwan remains a core national interest, while the United States continues to be the island’s most important international supporter. As Trump prepares for his visit to Beijing, analysts suggest that Xi Jinping is likely to place Taiwan at the top of the agenda, in contrast to their previous meeting in South Korea, where the issue was largely avoided.

Observers are closely watching whether Trump’s transactional diplomatic style could lead to shifts in long-standing U.S. policy on Taiwan, potentially in exchange for Chinese economic concessions such as increased purchases of American goods.

Chinese policy experts argue that avoiding conflict is possible if Washington refrains from supporting Taiwanese independence. However, Taiwan’s government firmly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, maintaining that its future must be decided by its people alone.

Neither the Chinese Foreign Ministry nor the U.S. State Department has issued official comments on the matter.