A smiling photo-op in Beijing masked a far starker message from Xi Jinping to Donald Trump: get Taiwan wrong and the world’s two biggest powers could collide.
World War 3 fears were thrust back into the spotlight in Beijing this week, as Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Donald Trump that the United States and China could face ‘clashes and even conflicts’ over Taiwan if the issue is mishandled, according to China’s foreign ministry and state media reports.
Trump arrived in China for a three-day visit heavy on pageantry but light, so far, on concrete policy breakthroughs. The US president, who has frequently praised Xi in public, held a private two-hour meeting with the Chinese leader at the Great Hall of the People, with trade, regional security and Taiwan all on the agenda. The talks unfolded against a backdrop of ongoing tensions over US arms sales to Taipei, frictions over Iran and trade rows that have repeatedly strained relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
Xi’s Stark Taiwan Message Fuels World War 3 Anxiety
Xi used the meeting to restate Beijing’s long-standing position that Taiwan sits at the heart of its relationship with Washington. In a statement relayed by foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning and cited by state-linked outlets, Xi characterised the ‘Taiwan question’ as ‘the most important issue in China-US relations.’
The warning was blunt. If handled properly, Xi argued, the relationship could remain broadly stable. If not, Mao quoted him as saying, the two powers risked ‘clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.’
It is that phrase that has triggered fresh ‘World War 3’ talk among anxious observers, not least because it comes at a moment when war in Europe and the Middle East has already reshaped global security assumptions. Beijing’s choice to frame the danger so starkly looks calculated rather than careless. China has been increasingly vocal about its anger over US plans to supply Taiwan with advanced weaponry, and Xi’s comments fit a pattern of escalating rhetorical pressure.