In an interview with CBS, when Trump was asked how he would act if China moves militarily on Taiwan and whether the US forces will be deployed to defend Taiwan if that happens, the US President said, “You'll find out if it happens. And he understands the answer to that.”
When asked to further elaborate on his answer, Trump said, “This never even came up yesterday, as a subject. He never brought it up. People were a little surprised at that. He never brought it up, because he understands it, and he understands it very well.”
However, the US President refused to clarify what exactly his Chinese counterpart “understands”. Trump said he cannot give away his secrets and that the “other side knows”.
“I'm not somebody that tells you everything because you're askin' me a question. But they understand what's going to happen,” he said.
“And— he has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, "We would never do anything while President Trump is president," because they know the consequences,” Trump added.
Trump’s stern stand on the Taiwan issue, which is a potential flashpoint between the United States and China, even though both countries have reached an understanding on trade, comes without giving much away on how the US may act in case China invades Taiwan.
The ties between the US and Taiwan are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which states that it is the policy of the United States “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character” and
“to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
