Trump Defends China, Asks Japan Not To Interfere In Taiwan

US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Japan Summit in Osaka on Saturday, June 29, 2019. (doc. White House-Shealah Craighead)

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump advised Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi not to provoke China regarding Taiwan's sovereignty.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in its report on Thursday, November 27, said Trump made a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday this week.

In the communication, Xi stressed that Taiwan's return was an "integral part of the postwar international order". This was revealed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shortly thereafter, according to the WSJ, citing the source of a Japanese official and a US citizen who received a briefing regarding the call, it was stated:

"Trump scheduled a phone call with Takaichi and advised him not to provoke Beijing regarding the island's sovereignty issue".

"Trump's advice is very subtle, and he doesn't pressure Takaichi to withdraw his comments," the WSJ report added.

When asked for comment on this, a spokesman for PM Takaichi's office when contacted by AFP chose to remain silent.

However, not long after, Takaichi said the contents of the telephone discussions between himself and Trump were about the conversation between Trump and Xi and bilateral relations.

"President Trump said we were very close friends, and he offered that I was free to contact him at any time," he said.

However, according to the WSJ, "Japanese officials said the message [in telephone communication] was worrying."

The president does not want tensions related to Taiwan to jeopardize the percentage reached last month with Xi, which includes promises to buy more agricultural products from US farmers who are badly affected by the trade war, the WSJ reports.