President Trump urged Japan to dial back talk of Taiwan after a tense call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping regarding a trade truce and a promise of soybean purchases.
Days after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, 64, said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could draw a Tokyo military response, Xi spent half of a call with Trump pressing Beijing’s claim to the self-governing island. China’s leader stressed that the U.S. and China have a “responsibility to manage the world order,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Later the same day, Trump, 79, was reported by the Journal to have called Takaichi and subtly advised her not to provoke Beijing on Taiwan’s sovereignty, according to Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call.
A spokeswoman for Takaichi disputed that characterization to the Journal, saying such advice was not given.
U.S. policy is to stand with Taiwan against any use of force or coercion. While the Journal noted Washington “acknowledges without endorsing” China’s claim, it arms Taipei, so its fate isn’t decided by force.
By contrast, Joe Biden said multiple times that the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily and referred to Xi as a “dictator” on numerous occasions. Trump has been less definitive, declining in a 60 Minutes interview earlier this month to be drawn on whether he would defend the island, saying only that Xi, 72, “understands” his position.
Regarding Trump’s exchange with Takaichi, the White House issued a statement from the president to the paper: “The United States relationship with China is very good, and that’s also very good for Japan, who is our dear and close ally.
“Getting along with China is a great thing for China and the U.S. In my opinion, President Xi will be substantially upping his purchase of soybean and other farm products, and anything good for our farmers is good for me.”
The sequence—China first, then Japan—was said to have worried Tokyo. Japanese officials told the Journal that the president did not want Taiwan-related friction to endanger an agreement reached last month with Xi, tied to purchases from American farmers hit by the trade war.
“We signed wonderful trade deals with Japan, China, South Korea, and many other nations, and the world is at peace,” Trump added in the statement to the Journal. “Let’s keep it that way!”
Beijing’s readout confirmed the pressure point: “Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the postwar international order,” Xi told Trump, according to the Journal.
Japan is not just a partner to the U.S., it is a treaty ally under a security pact that commits America to defend Japan if attacked. Trump has publicly praised Takaichi’s defense stance and staged an alliance display aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in Yokosuka.
Trump said on Tuesday that he had asked Xi to “buy a little faster” on farm goods and said Xi “more or less agreed.”
Washington has said China agreed to purchase 12 million metric tons of soybeans by year-end and 25 million annually for three years, although Beijing hasn’t confirmed those figures, the Journal reported.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Japanese prime minister’s office for comment.
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