World News by Wild Rose

The US Navy has set up a dedicated command to turn its growing array of aerial, surface and underwater drones into an integrated fighting force – a capability US commanders have linked to disrupting a PLA attack on Taiwan. The Robotic and Autonomous Systems Warfighting Development Centre, formally established on September 24 in Virginia, will develop doctrine and tactics for unmanned systems, train sailors to use them, and test whether they can keep operating under realistic conditions. In a...

US Ambassador to China David Perdue has stated that Washington’s Taiwan policy remains unchanged following high-level talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, despite hopes from Beijing to limit support for Taipei. (Source: Bloomberg)

US President Donald Trump has sought to play down exchanges with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Taiwan independence, saying on Saturday that they touched on the subject only briefly. “We didn’t talk about it too much. Right now, it’s fine. It’s just moving along,” Trump said. “We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about Taiwan. He understands very much how I feel.” During the summit in Washington last week, Xi pressed Trump to take an explicit position against Taiwan independence – a...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has completed a whirlwind 43-hour trip to the United States, his first state visit to the country in more than a decade, with US President Donald Trump pulling out all the stops to make it a grand affair. The two leaders met several times during the visit, including at a ceremonial airport welcome, the White House reception and bilateral talks on a wide range of topics including trade, tariffs and Taiwan. They also attended a state dinner in Xi’s honour with top...

Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed his US counterpart Donald Trump to explicitly oppose Taiwan independence – a call that would require a shift in Washington’s long-standing position and further restraint on American arms sales to the island, according to analysts. During the meeting between the two leaders on Thursday, Xi said he hoped the US side would “adhere to the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’”, according to a statement from the foreign ministry in Beijing. The...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump discussed artificial intelligence (AI) and Taiwan at the White House on Thursday as part of a state visit dominated by pageantry. On AI, Xi said that “the right thing to do is to draw on each other’s strengths, not guard against each other”, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. He also backed continued dialogue about risks, joint efforts to prevent misuse and keeping AI under human control. Trump earlier said on...

President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, praising what he called their “truly great friendship” as the two leaders opened talks focused on trade, Taiwan, Iran and artificial intelligence.

The top Democrat on the US Senate’s foreign policy panel urged Donald Trump on Monday not to signal any retreat from Taiwan when he hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. Speaking at the Concordia Summit in New York, Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she hoped the president “will not say anything that indicates a lack of support for Taiwan” during his talks with the Chinese leader. Shaheen is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which reviews US arms sales abroad,...

The United States, Japan and South Korea announced a new economic-security consultation and reinforced their support for stability across the Taiwan Strait on Monday, sending a coordinated message on two of Beijing’s most sensitive issues just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit with US President Donald Trump. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun unveiled the initiative after meeting on the...

The United States is considering postponing the announcement of major arms sales to Taiwan until after November’s Apec summit in Shenzhen, multiple sources told the South China Morning Post. The potential delay comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to travel to Washington next week for a state visit. The sources said there was a strong possibility US President Donald Trump could extend the delay through to the end of the year, pointing to a planned bilateral meeting between the two...

The United States is leaning on its coastguard to reinforce its presence in the West Pacific as its navy comes under increasing strain in the Middle East. Although this move may be seen as a lower-risk way of countering Beijing’s growing presence in the region, increasing US cooperation with the Taiwanese coastguard risks further mainland Chinese pressure on the island. Recently, the US announced that six fast-response cutters that had been based in the Middle East for more than 20 years would...