Xi tells Trump Taiwan's 'return' key to post-war order

China criticises Japan's plan to deploy missiles on island near Taiwan

BEIJING:

Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump during a phone call on Monday that Taiwan's "return to China" is a key part of the post-war international order, Xinhua reported.

"China and the United States once fought side by side against fascism and militarism, and should now work together to safeguard the outcomes of World War Two," Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

A White House official confirmed Trump and Xi had spoken by phone but gave no details. The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation.

Xi told Trump that their two countries should "maintain momentum in ties", according to Xinhua, in the wake of a meeting last month in South Korea where the two leaders sought to calm a blistering trade war.

On Taiwan, Xi stressed that the island's "return to China is an important component" of the world order, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Xi told Trump that the "successful" meeting in South Korea "helped calibrate the course and inject momentum into the steady forward movement of the giant ship of China-US relations", Xinhua reported.

Since the meeting, China-US ties have "remained stable and have continued to improve, which has been widely welcomed by both countries and the international community", Xi added.

US President Donald Trump said he held a "very good" phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday during which the leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, fentanyl trafficking and a deal for farmers. "We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers - and it will only get better. Our relationship with China is extremely strong!" he said in a Truth Social post.

Meanwhile, China called Japan's plan to deploy missiles on an island near Taiwan a deliberate attempt to "create regional tension and provoke military confrontation" on Monday, as a diplomatic dispute simmers between the two nations.

The remarks come amid their worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

"Right-wing forces in Japan are... leading Japan and the region towards disaster," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing. Beijing "is determined and capable of safeguarding its national territorial sovereignty," she added.