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Donald Trump declines to say whether US would defend Taiwan in attack by mainland China

But top American diplomat Marco Rubio suggests Washington is committed to ‘prevent’ such a scenario, prompting concern about mixed messaging

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US President Donald Trump, flanked by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, hosts his administration’s first cabinet meeting in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Khushboo Razdanin Washington
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to say whether his administration would move to defend Taiwan against any possible mainland Chinese attack, while touting his “great relationship” with President Xi Jinping.
“I don’t comment because I don’t ever want to put myself in that position” to commit in advance, Trump told reporters at the administration’s first cabinet meeting, joined by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has extensive business interests in China.

“We’re gonna have a good relationship with China, but they won’t be able to take advantage of us,” Trump added.

The US president also appeared to extend the deadline for 25 per cent tariffs on imports from neighbouring Canada and Mexico by a month to April 2.
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio, struck a slightly different tone from his boss on Taiwan. In an interview with Fox News, he suggested the US was committed to “prevent” such an attack from happening.

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Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack

Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack

Rubio in his comments that aired on Wednesday said Beijing was aware of America’s military capability under its “strong leader, President Trump”.

Khushboo Razdan is a senior correspondent based in Washington. Prior to this, she worked for the Post in New York. Before joining the team, she worked as a multimedia journalist in Beijing and New Delhi for over a decade. She is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School.
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