Xi’s Threat to Trump Cements Taiwan as Top US-China Risk

After Xi Jinping regaled Donald Trump with goose-stepping soldiers and flag-waving children, the Chinese leader’s warning that Taiwan could lead to “clashes” between the superpowers amounted to a thunderclap in the choreographed world of Communist Party politics.

Cautioning American presidents against interfering with the self-ruled island is standard practice for China. But Xi’s assertion that it could trigger a “highly dangerous situation” for the world’s biggest economies marked his bluntest language yet on the topic. Beijing’s decision to release Xi’s remarks before the nearly two-and-a-half hour huddle in Beijing had even wrapped underscored the gravity of the message.