Japan denies report that Trump told PM not to provoke China on Taiwan

AFP | Tokyo

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Japan denied yesterday a Wall Street Journal report that said US President Donald Trump had advised Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty.

The row between Asia’s two biggest economies began after Takaichi suggested this month that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on selfruled Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

According to Beijing’s foreign ministry, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pressed the issue in a phone call with Trump on Monday, saying Taiwan’s return was an “integral part of the post-war international order”.

The WSJ reported on Thursday that, shortly after that discussion, “Trump set up a call with Takaichi and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of the island’s sovereignty”. It cited unidentified Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call.