TOKYO: US President Donald Trump advised Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty, the Wall Street Journal reported after a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.
The row between Asia’s two biggest economies began after Takaichi said that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the self-ruled island, which China claims as part of its territory.
In a phone call with Trump on Monday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pressed the issue, saying Taiwan’s return was an “integral part of the post-war international order”, according to China’s foreign ministry. Shortly after, “Trump set up a call with Takaichi and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of the island’s sovereignty”, the WSJ reported, citing Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call. – AFP
