Cho Jung-tai made the comments following a conversation between Trump and CCP leader Xi Jinping.
Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai on Nov. 25 rejected a call by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping for Taiwan to “return to China,” saying that is not an option for his country.
Cho made the remarks after Xi pushed Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the island during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We must once again emphasize that the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a fully sovereign and independent country,” Cho said outside the Parliament in Taipei. “For the 23 million people of our nation, ’return’ is not an option—this is very clear.”
The Republic of China is the official name of Taiwan. Under the Taiwanese system, the premier, who is appointed by the president, is in charge of day-to-day government, while defense and foreign relations generally fall within the president’s purview.
Trump spoke with Xi over the phone on Nov. 24, two months after they met face-to-face in the South Korean city of Busan.
Xi was quoted by China’s official Xinhua news agency as saying that China and the United States should work together to “safeguard the outcomes of World War Two” and that “Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order.”
The CCP, which has never ruled Taiwan, claims the self-governed democracy as its own territory, to be taken by force if necessary.
The two leaders also discussed the Russia–Ukraine war, according to the Chinese summary of the meeting. Xi said he hoped that a binding agreement could be reached among the various sides of that conflict, according to the readout.
Trump did not refer to Taiwan in a Nov. 24 post on Truth Social about the call.
“I just had a very good telephone call with President Xi, of China,” he wrote. “We discussed many topics including Ukraine/Russia, Fentanyl, Soybeans and other Farm Products, etc. We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers — and it will only get better. Our relationship with China is extremely strong!”
Trump said that he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit Beijing in April.
By Guy Birchall
