Taiwan faces new unease after Xi-Trump summit leaves island sidelined

In a high-stakes bilateral exchange where Taiwan has historically been an enduring flashpoint, the unusual silence was deafening.

Last week’s summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump produced a rare omission – no mention of Taiwan at all in official readouts from both Washington and Beijing. The rare departure from diplomatic tradition has left the self-ruled island with an awkward sense of both relief and unease.

While most Western media described the outcome of the summit in South Korea as a “detente”, Taipei has sought to see it positively amid growing scepticism about Washington’s defence commitment to the island.

Lin Chia-lung, Taiwan’s foreign minister, told lawmakers on Wednesday that while the meeting did not touch on Taiwan, Washington’s support “remains steady and consistent”.

He said the ministry and Taipei’s de facto embassy in Washington had maintained close contact with US counterparts before and after the summit.