[Epoch Times, November 25, 2025] (Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu comprehensive report) On Monday (November 24), US President Trump and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone, and Trump subsequently posted a message without mentioning Taiwan. The Taiwanese authorities welcomed this, saying it was "the best outcome" for Taiwan.
Bloomberg reported that Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Chih-chung stated that Trump's silence regarding Taiwan indicated that Taiwan was not being used as a bargaining chip in US-China negotiations. "We weren't mentioned, which means we weren't included in the agreement, and that's the best outcome," he said in a phone call.
On Monday, Trump and Xi spoke for the first time since their meeting in South Korea last month. Trump subsequently posted on the social media platform "Truth Social," saying, "We discussed many issues, including Ukraine/Russia, fentanyl, soybeans, and other agricultural products."
According to the statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Xi Jinping also discussed the Taiwan issue. However, Trump's statement did not mention Taiwan.
Wu Chih-chung stated, "We understand that Taiwan is a core interest of China, but it is also a core interest of Japan, the United States, and Europe." He added that Taiwan and the US maintain "frequent and in-depth communication."
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Hsiao Kuang-wei, stated at a press conference in Taipei that the Ministry is closely monitoring the progress of the high-level talks between the US and China and will maintain close communication with the US to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.
He stated that the CCP has once again deliberately distorted Taiwan's sovereign status and related historical facts; Hsiao Kuang-wei also reiterated that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is sovereign and independent, and not subordinate to the People's Republic of China (Communist China).
According to a report by the CCP's official Xinhua News Agency, during the call between Trump and Xi, Xi told Trump that Taiwan's return to China is an important part of the post-war international order.
Furthermore, Japan's newly appointed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously stated during a parliamentary interpellation that if the CCP were to use force against Taiwan, it would pose an existential crisis for Japan, angering the CCP. Taiwan has become the focus of the rapidly escalating tensions between China and Japan.
A Japanese official told Nikkei Asian News that Japan was aware of the call beforehand and noted that coordination between the US and Japan was good. Trump spoke with Takaichi shortly after the Trump-Xi call. Kaohsiung City stated that Trump briefly outlined the current state of US-China relations and that she could call him at any time.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump-Xi call was at Xi Jinping's request.
Craig Singleton, a senior fellow for China at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a Washington think tank, told Nikkei, "The Chinese requested the call, and Xi chose to use the rhetoric of the World War II order to argue about the Taiwan issue. This is a strategic signal."
"Beijing is trying to lock in its preferred historical and legal framework with the US before the Taiwan issue becomes further internationalized in the Sino-Japanese dispute," he said.
Singleton explained that China is worried that more countries will follow Japan's example and claim that blocking or attacking Taiwan would affect their own security. "This rhetoric and timing is less about confidence and more about anxiety."
In a November 2nd interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump told CBS reporter Norah O'Donnell that Xi knew the "consequences" of military action against Taiwan.
In the interview, when O'Donnell asked Trump whether he would order the U.S. military to defend Taiwan if the Chinese Communist Party ordered an invasion, Trump replied, "If it happens, you'll know the answer. He (Xi Jinping) knows the answer very well."
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