Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te speaks during a press conference
| Photo Credit: AP
Taiwan’s ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island’s president said on Thursday (February 5, 2026), hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone about topics that included the self-ruled island’s future.
“The Taiwan-U.S. relationship is rock solid, and all cooperation projects will continue uninterrupted,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told reporters during a visit to textile merchants in western Taiwan.
The comments came after Mr. Xi, in his first call with Mr. Trump since November, warned the U.S. President to be “prudent” about supplying arms to the self-ruled island, according to a readout of their call provided by China’s Foreign Ministry.
Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy that China claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing prohibits all countries it has diplomatic relations with — including the U.S. — from having formal ties with Taipei.
Still, while the U.S. doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as a country, it is the island’s strongest informal backer and arms supplier.
In December, the U.S. State Department announced its largest-ever arms sales package to Taiwan, valued at more than $11.1 billion and including missiles, artillery systems and drones. The package is yet to be approved by Congress.
China reacted angrily to the proposed arms sales, conducting two days of military drills around the island in late December, for which it dispatched air, navy and missile units.
The arms sales are also facing pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population, along with a proposed increase of defence spending to 3.3% of Taiwan’s gross domestic product.
Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has blocked Mr. Lai’s budget plan, including a $40 billion special defence budget, proposing instead a much smaller defence spending plan.
Mr. Trump said the call with Mr. Xi was “excellent” and “thorough” in a post late on Wednesday (February 4) on Truth Social.
He added that he is looking forward to a trip to China in April that will be the first of his current term in office.
Mr. Trump also said China is considering buying 20 million tons of U.S. soybeans in the current season, up from 12 million tons in the previous season.
Published – February 05, 2026 12:14 pm IST
