‘Trump, Xi and the world at stake’

This is apropos a letter to the Editor titled “Trump, Xi and the world at stake” carried by the newspaper on Friday and yesterday.

In my view, stakes extend far beyond the package. Taiwan has about 23 million people and produces more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips. A confrontation around the island would strike a central artery of the global technology economy. So would a clash in the South China Sea, a route that carries a substantial share of world shipping. Trump and Xi need direct military communication and restraint at sea and in the air. Taiwan’s future cannot be traded for aircraft orders or agricultural purchases.

Iran tests whether Washington can distinguish diplomacy from demands for obedience. A US congressional commission estimates that China bought more than 90 percent of Iran’s exported oil in 2025, earning Tehran roughly $31 billion. Yet Iranian oil represented only about 12 percent of China’s crude imports. Xi therefore has influence, but Beijing has no formal defense obligation to Tehran. Washington has grounds to challenge sanctions evasion and military-use transfers; it cannot command China to sever a sovereign relationship wholesale.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026