For 23 million Taiwanese, the most consequential diplomatic meeting of 2026 may be one to which they are not invited.
When US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing next month, his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has made clear that Taiwan will sit at the top of his agenda, a stark departure from their South Korea meeting last year, where he deliberately set the issue aside.
Taipei will be watching for any sign that Trump, who has unnerved partners with his transactional approach to alliances, could soften or reframe longstanding US policy on Taiwan in return for China buying US aircraft or farm goods and easing economic pressures.
China’s foreign ministry and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The US follows a “one China policy” by which it officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and only acknowledges, but does not accept, China’s position, which claims the island as its own. The US says it “does not support” Taiwan’s independence but will help it maintain self-defence.
&uuid=(email))