Taiwan President Lai Says He Would Be Happy to Speak with Trump

Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te said Thursday he would be “happy” to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump, a conversation that would break more than four decades of diplomatic protocol and risk angering China.

Trump told reporters Wednesday he would speak to Lai as the White House weighs a massive arms sale package to the self-governing island. It was the second time since his summit in Beijing last week that Trump has said he would call the Taiwanese leader.

U.S. and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under control.

On Wednesday, Trump reiterated he would speak to Lai, dispelling initial speculation that his mention of Lai after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was a verbal slip.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday that Lai is “committed to maintaining the stable status quo in the Taiwan Strait” and that “China is the disruptor of peace and stability.”

The statement said Lai would be “happy to discuss these matters with President Trump.”

“I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Xi during his state visit to Beijing last week. “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” Trump said.

After wrapping up his trip to Beijing, Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China, as the U.S. weighed whether to approve a new arms sales package for the island potentially worth some $14 billion.

The U.S. is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.

Lai’s government has been on the offensive lately, insisting that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed and that Trump made no commitments to China on arms sales to the island.

“Given that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, I think we remain cautiously optimistic about arms purchases,” Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said.

Taiwan relies heavily on U.S. support to deter any potential Chinese attack. It has been under intense pressure to increase its spending through investment in U.S. firms.

In 2016, shortly after his first election victory, then-President-elect Trump accepted a phone call from then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, angering Beijing and shocking diplomats, world leaders and China experts.