Chinese President Xi Jinping is using the issue of Taiwan to exert power over President Trump as the two leaders seek to tackle a number of hot button issues during this week’s high stakes summit in Beijing.
During their bilateral meeting on Thursday, Xi told Trump the “entire relationship” between Washington and Beijing would be put in jeopardy if the “Taiwan question” is not handled well, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
Additionally, China referred to Taiwan as “the most important issue in China-U.S. relations” in a readout following the meeting.
The White House, on the other hand, did not mention Taiwan once in its readout of the meeting, and Trump notably did not respond to questions from reporters on the topic when he was greeted by Xi.