SEOUL, September 25 (AJP) -President Donald Trump should resist pressure from Beijing to alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan, a senior Democratic lawmaker said, after Chinese President Xi Jinping used his state visit to Washington to call on the United States to adopt what Beijing described as the “correct” position against Taiwan independence.
“I would hope President Trump upholds our decades-long commitments to the ‘one China’ policy,” Rep. Ami Bera, a California Democrat and co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, told AJP in a video interview ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.
“Our goal is to maintain the status quo. Our goal is to avoid confrontation,” he said. “I would hope he would emphasize maintaining peace and stability in the region.”
Bera’s warning gained immediacy after Xi explicitly raised Taiwan in his White House talks with Trump on Thursday.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying Beijing’s position on “national reunification and territorial integrity” was clear and that Washington should “adhere to the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’” and handle the issue cautiously.
Xinhua highlighted the Taiwan demand in a separate dispatch shortly after the summit.
The formulation goes beyond Washington’s own longstanding language. The United States recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China while maintaining unofficial relations with Taiwan under a framework that includes the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China joint communiqués and the Six Assurances.
Bera and Republican Rep. Andy Barr, the two co-chairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June over reports that Taiwan arms sales had been paused following discussions with Beijing.
Rubio reaffirmed that the United States continued to adhere to that longstanding framework and that arms-sale decisions were not subject to negotiation with Beijing, according to a statement from the lawmakers.
That distinction has taken on greater significance as Trump seeks agreements with Xi on trade, artificial intelligence, critical minerals and other issues while Beijing intensifies pressure over Taiwan.
Washington had yet to release a detailed separate account of Thursday’s summit as of early Friday in Asia. Trump also avoided giving a substantive answer when reporters asked after the meeting whether Taiwan had been discussed.
Ahead of the summit, Bera and Republican Rep. Young Kim, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, urged Trump in a bipartisan letter to uphold established U.S. policy toward Taiwan, support its self-defense and reduce Beijing’s leverage over critical mineral supply chains.
Xi, meanwhile, repeatedly framed the broader relationship around “mutual benefit,” equality and what Beijing calls “win-win” cooperation.
Xinhua said Xi told Trump that recent economic and trade talks had produced a new arrangement and that a stable commercial relationship required the two countries to expand areas of cooperation while reducing points of friction.
Xi also said China and the United States, as leading powers in artificial intelligence, had more reason to cooperate even as they compete.
The messaging reflected a broader theme running through Xi’s visit: preserve stability in economic relations while pressing Washington on issues Beijing regards as fundamental to sovereignty.
Taiwan sits at the center of that tension.
The Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December, while another package worth about $14 billion has remained delayed. Trump said after meeting Xi in Beijing in May that the second package was being held in abeyance and described arms sales as leverage in negotiations.
For Bera, Taiwan should not become part of a wider transaction with Beijing.
He said Trump should use his talks with Xi to reaffirm the existing U.S. framework rather than reopen the basic terms of Washington’s relationship with Taipei.
Bera extended the same argument to another pillar of U.S. strategy in Asia — the military alliance with South Korea — after Trump ordered a sharp reduction in joint military exercises last month.
“What Congress should do is reaffirm our commitments,” Bera said, recalling bipartisan moves during Trump’s first term to constrain the administration’s ability to substantially reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
“President Trump right now is not asking for Congress to weigh in, so I think we proactively have to reaffirm our commitments to the Korean people,” he said.
Trump on Aug. 16 ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise with South Korea, arguing that the drills were costly and sent an “inappropriate and hostile” signal to North Korea.
The exercise, originally scheduled to run for 11 days from Aug. 17 through Aug. 27, was shortened to five days. Some live-training events were canceled or converted to simulations, although the Pentagon said essential readiness would be preserved.
Bera said the move risked sending a broader strategic signal.
“I think what President Trump did by cutting short the exercises does send a wrong message both to China and North Korea,” he said. “Nobody wants a war. Nobody wants fighting to occur. The reduction in exercises sends the wrong message.”
The pullback has not produced an obvious diplomatic opening with Pyongyang. North Korea has continued ballistic missile tests and recently reiterated that its nuclear status was irreversible.
Trump has said he intends to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, seeking to revive the personal diplomacy that produced three face-to-face encounters during his first term but no agreement eliminating North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
Bera said he supported Trump’s willingness to engage Kim during his first term but questioned another summit without prior coordination with Seoul and clearly defined objectives.
“At this particular moment in time, I don’t think it is a good idea,” he said.
“I am not against another meeting,” Bera added. “I don’t believe he has sat down with Korean leadership and said, ‘Here’s what this would look like’ and ‘Here are our objectives.’”
The strategic environment has also changed since Trump and Kim last met in 2019. North Korea and Russia signed a mutual-defense treaty in 2024, and Pyongyang has since sent troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I also think the calculus has changed because today there is the North Korea-Russia alliance as well,” Bera said. “I would want that to be part of any summit.”
Without consultation with U.S. allies and a defined agenda, he said, “I would be very much against it at this moment.”
Bera also called on Washington to reinforce assurances that its nuclear umbrella over South Korea remains credible amid persistent debate in Seoul over whether the country should acquire its own nuclear deterrent.
At a House hearing in March, Bera questioned a senior State Department official about implementation of commitments under the 2023 Washington Declaration, which established the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and sought to strengthen U.S. extended deterrence.
“We have to continue to do rotations of nuclear assets through Korea to demonstrate to the people we are firmly committed,” he said.
Bera said he understood why North Korea’s growing arsenal had fueled support among some South Koreans for an independent nuclear capability but warned that such a step could trigger wider proliferation pressures in Northeast Asia.
“We support the Korean military building up its own defensive capabilities, but on the nuclear side, we are your nuclear deterrent,” he said.
Bera has represented a Sacramento-area district in Congress since 2013. He is the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, serves on the House Intelligence Committee and co-chairs both the Congressional Taiwan Caucus and Congressional Korea Caucus.
His involvement with South Korea has spanned successive administrations. He visited Seoul in March 2024 as part of the Congressional Study Group on Korea and returned in March this year with another bipartisan delegation for talks with President Lee Jae Myung.
“We are treaty allies,” Bera told AJP. “We have a treaty. We should firmly commit to honor the treaty.”
AJP Takeaways
- Rep. Ami Bera urged Trump to preserve longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan and keep the island outside any broader bargain with Beijing.
- Bera said Trump’s reduction of South Korea-U.S. military exercises sent the wrong signal to both North Korea and China, while calling for stronger congressional reaffirmation of the alliance.
- Bera also cautioned against another Trump-Kim summit without coordination with Seoul and clear objectives, while stressing the credibility of U.S. extended deterrence for South Korea.
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