NEW YORK, August 6. /TASS/. China may go for an escalation of relations with Taiwan because of US President Joe Biden's incompetence, former US President Donald Trump told a Republican Party event in South Carolina.
According to Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping lost respect for the US after the election of Biden. China would not be going into Taiwan and Xi "is awfully close to wanting to go and because he thinks your leader is incompetent," the former president said.
President Biden is "the most incompetent and corrupt president we've ever had," Trump went on to say. The country "is not going to survive" if the Republicans fail to win in next year's general election, Trump claimed.
Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after being defeated in China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces and this position is supported by most countries, including Russia.
The US severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and established them with China. While recognizing the One China policy, Washington continues to maintain contacts with the island and supply it with weapons. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait ratcheted up following then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei on August 2-3, 2022.