Rubio says Taiwan will come up at Trump-Xi summit next week

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Taiwan will be on the agenda when President Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, calling it a perennial subject in U.S.-China diplomacy.

The confirmation comes as Taiwan faces sustained military pressure from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory. The United States remains Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, making the island a recurring flashpoint in U.S.-China relations.

Rubio made the remarks at a White House press briefing, according to The Korea Times. Asked directly whether Taiwan would feature in the upcoming summit, he left little doubt.

"I'm sure Taiwan will be a topic of conversation; it always is," Rubio said.

The secretary of state also described a shared interest between Washington and Beijing in keeping the region stable. "I think both countries understand that it is in neither one of our interests to see anything destabilizing happen in that part of the world," he said. "We don't need any destabilizing events to occur with regards to Taiwan or anywhere in the Indo Pacific."

Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on May 14 for the two-day summit. The visit comes amid continued tension over Taiwan, a self-governing island that China has long claimed as its own and has not ruled out seizing by force.

The United States does not formally recognize Taiwan's government but maintains robust unofficial ties, supplying arms and providing political support that Beijing has repeatedly condemned as interference in its internal affairs.

The Trump-Xi summit, set for May 14 and 15 in the Chinese capital, is expected to cover a broad agenda including trade disputes and military competition across the region, with Taiwan likely among the most sensitive items on the table.