Taiwan says President Lai would be happy to talk to Trump

Taiwan said on Thursday President Lai Ching-te would be happy to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump, in what would be an unprecedented conversation between the leader of the world's biggest economy and the island claimed by China.



It is still unclear when such talks might occur, but the decision could roil Washington's relations with Beijing and help resolve the fate of a massive arms package the United States is considering for democratically-governed Taiwan.



U.S. and Taiwan presidents have not spoken directly since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979. China considers Taiwan its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Beijing's control.



On Wednesday, Trump said he would speak to Lai, the second time in a week he has done so, dispelling initial speculation that his first mention of it after his Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was a verbal slip.



Taiwan's foreign ministry reiterated comments Lai made on Wednesday that if he got the opportunity to speak to Trump, he would say China was undermining peace and his government would keep the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.