'Nothing worries me': Trump on China's military drills around Taiwan, reaffirms 'great relationship' with Xi
"I don't believe he's going to be doing it," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is not concerned about military drills China is staging around Taiwan island, which the Chinese military is using as a 'stern warning' against 'external interference'.
"No, nothing worries me. They've been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area, now people take it a little bit differently" he told reporters, according to BBC.
He also reaffirmed his "great relationship" with Chinese president Xi Jinping, asserting that Xi "hasn't told [him] anything" about the drills.
"I don't believe he's going to be doing it," he added, supposedly referring to the possibility of a full-scale invasion by China on Taiwan.
Beijing said on Dec. 29 that the military drills, including a blockage of the island, are a stern warning against "Taiwan Independence" separatist forces and external interference".
It is part of Beijing's responses to the U.S.'s S$14.44 billion arms package to Taiwan, which they called a serious breach of the one-China principle and interference in China's internal affairs.
The drills also come almost two months after the start of an ongoing spat with Japan, after Japan's prime minister Sanae Takaichi remarked in parliament on Nov. 7 that an attack on Taiwan by the Chinese could amount to a "survival-threatening situation" and trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Top image via AFP
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