A week has passed since Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Washington, D.C. for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
While a lot of focus was on the ceremonial — including a state dinner — plans were also announced for two further meetings for the leaders this year: once in China at the APEC leaders meeting in November, and then in Miami at the Group of 20 Summit in December.
One topic that is always present within U.S.-China relations is Taiwan. So where do things stand?
HPR spoke with James Moriarty, who was chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan from 2016 to 2023, to learn how things stand across the strait.
The institute is often referred to as the de facto embassy of the U.S. in Taiwan, and Moriarty is a career diplomat who spent 36 years in foreign service. He currently serves as a senior advisor for the Pacific Forum.
Interview Highlights
On cross-strait relations
JAMES MORIARTY: We're not in a good place at all. What has happened is that Xi Jinping, the number one in China, says that basically he has a law that says … we own Taiwan; it is ours by right. And then that law goes on to say that if we don't achieve peaceful unification and we give up all hope for peaceful unification, then we must use force to achieve unification. That's the law. Xi Jinping sort of exacerbates that by saying we have to achieve … the great rejuvenation of China by 2049. That would be the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party's rule in China, and that great rejuvenation requires that we achieve unification with Taiwan. … Meanwhile, we're sort of the third wheel on this tricycle.
On increasing military tension across the Pacific
MORIARTY: I love playing Xi Jinping. I try to think like he thinks. … What I, Xi Jinping, want is a quick, easy takeover of Taiwan. I don't want something long and bloody … that gives the world time to respond. Even the Americans, even my big good buddy, the current president, would have to do something. We don't want that. … And therefore I would say that the attitudes of the Japanese and the Filipinos are very important. And frankly, if I'm Xi Jinping, I'm getting nervous about that right now. I've basically declared whatever you want to call it — not even Cold War, but a pretty active hostility towards Prime Minister (Sanae) Takaichi and also the Japanese people.
On the role Hawaiʻi plays in the Pacific
I've got a cousin who works down at Pearl Harbor, flies off to Australia. You know, we are sort of the lead on submarines in the Pacific. We've got the most expertise, and as we look at things like AUKUS, as we work with the Australians and the Brits and try to improve their capabilities, as we look at Guam as the forward staging base for the Marines, for a lot of aircraft, for a lot of naval vessels, where's that expertise come from? Comes from here. … We've got expertise here. Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, East-West Center has been doing this for decades; we've got relationships that help form the bridge that not only make us smarter but make it easier for us to cooperate.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 1, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
