🔻 Reuters: Xi may ask Trump not to sell weapons to Taiwan and to put pressure on Iran in return

Reuters, citing its sources, reports that it is expected that Xi Jinping, President of China, during his trip to the United States, which begins tomorrow, will ask Donald Trump, the U.S. President, to stop selling weapons to Taiwan based on the 1982 joint statement.

Reuters says that, in return, China has proposed offering help to exert pressure on Iran in connection with the war in the Middle East.

China regularly describes Taiwan as one of its most sensitive and important diplomatic issues and has repeatedly called for a halt to arms sales to the island.

Under its domestic laws, the United States is required to provide Taiwan—an island governed under a democratic system—with the necessary tools to defend itself.

Over the past five years, China has sharply increased its military activities around Taiwan.