Nicholas Burns: I Do Have ‘Concerns’ that Chinese Smell Weakness in This President in Terms of His Relationship to Taiwan

EXCERPT:

BURNS: "I do have those concerns. I have — I have concerns that the Chinese feel that President Trump, in his second term in office, has not been at all clear about upholding our traditional half-century policy, One China policy, which means that we do provide weaponry to the Taiwan authorities to help them strengthen their deterrence. And that’s the opening. And you may remember about six weeks ago, President Xi and President Trump talked on the phone, and President Trump said he was negotiating this issue of arms sales with China. Well, no American president has agreed to negotiate what we do towards Taiwan with the leadership in Beijing. So I think there is that concern. I don’t think a Chinese cross-strait attack is imminent. That’s not the immediate issue right now. But they do, I think, sense a weakening, a softening in the U.S. position, and I really hope that President Trump did not lead them in that direction during these talks."