Taiwan will not provoke conflict nor give up sovereignty, says president

Taiwan will not provoke conflict nor give up sovereignty, says president20 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKoh EweBloomberg via Getty ImagesLai Ching-te, in his first direct response to the Trump-Xi meeting, stressed the need for continued US arms sales to TaiwanTaiwan will not provoke any conflict but will also not give up its sovereignty, said its president Lai Ching-te after a high-stakes summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping where they discussed the issue of Taiwan's independence.According to Chinese state media, Xi had told Trump that Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by Beijing, was "the most important issue" in bilateral ties and mishandling it could lead to conflict.After his visit to Beijing, Trump issued a warning to Taiwan, telling Fox News: "I'm not looking to have somebody go independent." The US is a longstanding ally of Taiwan and is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.During his interview, Trump said that US policy on Taiwan had not changed, while making it clear he did not seek conflict with Beijing.Trump also told reporters Xi had felt "very strongly" about Taiwan but Trump had "made no commitment either way".Under Lai and his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese government has for years maintained that there is no need to formally declare independence because it already considers Taiwan as a sovereign nation.Lai reiterated this stance in his Facebook post, which was his first direct response to the summit, saying "there is no 'Taiwan independence' issue"."Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent democratic country," he wrote, adding that "Taiwan's future must follow the will of all the Taiwanese people."Most people in Taiwan consider themselves a sovereign nation. But many also favour keeping the "status quo" in cross-strait relations: neither unifying with China nor...