Taiwan will not be “sacrificed” or “exchanged” and will not give up its free and democratic way of life “under pressure,” assured Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te after the recent summit held in Beijing between the presidents of China and the United States, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

“As long as China continues without renouncing the use of force to annex Taiwan and continues to expand its military power with the aim of changing the regional and cross-strait status quo, it is necessary for the United States to continue selling weapons to Taiwan,” stated the island's leader through his official Facebook account.

Lai spoke after Trump's state visit to China (the first by a US president in almost a decade), during which he discussed with Xi the situation in Taiwan, an autonomously governed democracy considered by Beijing as an "inalienable part" of its territory.

Trump does not confirm military aid

In an interview broadcast on Fox News, Trump commented that he spoke with Xi about Taiwan “all night” and left the approval of an important arms package for the island up in the air, stressing that it is a “very good bargaining chip” for Washington.

"I haven't approved it yet, we'll see what happens. Maybe I will, maybe I won't (...). It's a very good bargaining chip for us, they are a lot of weapons," said the tycoon.

In his Facebook post, Lai stressed that Taiwan is part of the “core interests” of the international community due to its geostrategic location and its key role in the global development of artificial intelligence.

"Ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has always been a broad consensus and a common interest between Taiwan, the United States and all democratic countries in the world. Taiwan will never be sacrificed or exchanged," reaffirmed the Taiwanese president, frequently labeled as "independence" and "troublemaker" by the Chinese authorities.