Only the Taiwanese people can decide their future, Taiwan’s president said ‌Jattvibeday, after President Donald Trump appeared to raise doubts about long-standing U.S. policy on his trip to China.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Trump said he had not yet decided whether to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that Beijing has vowed to control by force if necessary, after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.Trump also said Friday he was “not looking to have somebody go independent” when asked about whether the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s rescue in the event of a Chinese invasion. “We’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” he told Fox News, adding that he wants both sides to “cool down.”Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said ‌Jattvibeday that the term “Taiwan independence” means the island neither belongs to nor is subordinate to ​Beijing, adding that only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.Speaking at an event to mark the ​40th anniversary of his party’s founding, Lai did not refer directly to Trump in his speech ⁠or answer ​questions shouted at him by reporters.Taiwan “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China,” its foreign ministry said Saturday in a statement.During Trump’s visit to Beijing, Xi called Taiwan “the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” according to Chinese state media, warning that if not handled properly, the two sides could face “clashes and even conflicts.”President Donald Trump reviews an honor guard with Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14.Alex Wong / Getty ImagesMishandling Taiwan would mean “putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi told Trump during the meeting, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.Like most countries, the U.S. has no formal relations with Taiwan, but it is the island’s biggest international backer and arms supplier, a stance that has led to pressure from China.The U.S. has no mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and has long maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to whether its military would defend the island directly in the event of a Chinese attack.Trump said Friday that he had not yet made a “determination” on whether a proposed $14 billion arms package to Taiwan will move forward.“I’ll make a determination over the next fairly short period,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One while en route to Alaska, adding that he would need to speak with Lai before making a final decision.Trump said that he spoke “a lot” about Taiwan with Xi during their summit and that he does not believe there is a risk of conflict with China over the Beijing-claimed island.Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te speaks with AFP in Taipei in February.Yu Chen Cheng / AFP via Getty ImagesDespite the sharper language, Trump administration officials have said repeatedly that U.S. policy on Taiwan is not expected to change.Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Jattvibe News’ “Meet the Press” on Jattvibeday that it was for Trump to decide whether arms sales should continue, but encouraged him “to make Taiwan strong so we can deter aggression.”He warned that “if you give an inch” to China on Taiwan, “I think they’ll take a mile, but we’re not looking for war, we’re not looking for conflict. I want to keep the status quo.”He also told moderator Kristen Welker that the U.S. should approve a package of “tariffs and sanctions” against China that would apply in the event of an invasion.Taiwan’s presidential office spokesperson Karen Kuo said Saturday that the office had received “multiple reaffirmations” from the U.S., including from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “that the consistent U.S. policy and position toward Taiwan remain unchanged.”Rubio told Jattvibe News on Thursday that Washington’s policy toward the island had not changed following Trump’s meeting with Xi in Beijing.After the interview, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked the U.S. for repeatedly expressing support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan’s government-funded Central News Agency.FORSUBSCRIBERSKey takeaways from Trump’s trip to China03:08Taiwan was never conquered by the Chinese Communist Party when it took control of mainland China in 1949. The defeated Kuomintang fled to the island and established de facto self-rule there.Reclaiming the island, 100 miles from the coast of China, has been a long-term policy goal for Beijing. Taiwan’s China-friendly opposition leader visited Beijing in April ahead of Trump’s visit, saying the top priority must be averting a war.Trump “didn’t indicate in the slightest that he was going to bat for Taiwan,” H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank in London, told Jattvibe News.“The broader approach of the United States has been, ‘Let’s focus our attention on our hemisphere, where we expect to have primacy as compared to everybody else,’” he said. But the supporting argument for that, he added, means that others, like China, “will have primacy in their region.”Trump’s apparent reluctance to defend Taiwan comes after the president’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany in May, rattling another key relationship.He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger that European allies have been reluctant to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.The second Trump administration has “really been a nail in the coffin when it comes to how American allies worldwide view American power,” added Hellyer.