00:00President Xi and I talked a lot about Taiwan. Speaking to the press on Air Force One,
00:05U.S. President Donald Trump said he's still making a decision on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
00:11That's after he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for two days of talks in Beijing.
00:16I'll make a determination over the next early short period.
00:19You're not necessarily going to go ahead. It's your proposal.
00:21I'm going to make a determination.
00:22The U.S. is Taiwan's largest arms supplier and backer of its self-defense.
00:27China claims Taiwan as its own and has been increasingly pressuring the country,
00:32even threatening to take it by force.
00:34Trump said he did not respond to Xi's questions about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
00:39And in a special interview with Fox News,
00:41he also seemed to caution Taiwan against formally declaring independence.
00:46If you kept it the way it is, I think China is going to be OK with that.
00:50But we're not looking to have somebody say,
00:52let's go independent because the United States is backing us.
00:55But U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington's policy on Taiwan remains unchanged for now.
01:02He says he thinks China would prefer Taiwan to voluntarily give in through a public vote
01:08rather than by military invasion.
01:10While two of the world's largest political powers seem to shake hands on preventing war in the Taiwan Strait,
01:16Taiwan's foreign ministry says U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are legal security commitment
01:21under the Taiwan Relations Act, while also thanking Trump for his long-term support for the country.
01:27This sentiment also echoed in the statement by a group of U.S. Democratic senators
01:31calling for Trump to approve a $14 billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan.
01:37But here in Jingmen, a Taiwanese island only a few kilometers from China's east coast,
01:42some people say this week's meeting make them anxious.
02:12With Trump now back in Washington,
02:14Taiwan will be looking out for any movement on arms sales or the U.S. commitment to Taiwan.
02:20Luffy Lee in Ireland for Taiwan Plus.
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