During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” President Donald Trump said that he wants the status quo with China and Taiwan to remain and if Taiwan went independent, China “probably would do something pretty harsh, and then they would be met harshly and bad things will happen.” He also said that Taiwan is angling for independence “because they want to get into a war” and both sides should cool things down. He also stated that he’s holding on approving weapons sales to Taiwan “and it depends on China. It depends. It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly.”
Trump said, “[I]t’s not a takeover, they just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place, because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent. They don’t want to do it. And I think they probably would do something pretty harsh, and then they would be met harshly and bad things will happen.”
He added, “Now, with me, I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here, I think they might, to be honest with you. I’m not sure that they do anything if it remained as is. But they have somebody there now that wants to go independent. Well, that’s a very risky thing when you go independent, they’re going independent because they want to get into a war and they want to — they figure they have the United States behind them. I’d like to see it stay the way it is.”
Trump further stated, “I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down.”
Host Bret Baier then asked, “But you’re waiting on approving billions of dollars of weapons for Taiwan. Is that moving forward?”
Trump responded, “Well, I haven’t approved it yet. We’re going to see what happens.”
Baier then asked, “What’s your hinge point?”
Trump answered, “Well, I’m not going to say that.”
Later, Trump added, “I’m holding that in abeyance, and it depends on China. It depends. It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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