Taiwan reacts with caution as Trump and Xi hold Washington summit

Taiwanese officials and observers have responded with considerable caution to the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, as deep uncertainty persists over what the two leaders agreed regarding the island.

The only public reference to Taiwan to emerge from the closed-door discussions came in Beijing's official readout, leaving Taipei with little to go on as it attempts to assess any shift in American policy. The absence of a US statement on the subject has compounded anxiety among those closely watching the relationship between Washington and Beijing.

The two leaders struck a broadly cordial tone throughout the summit, which continued following a state dinner, signalling a warmer personal dynamic between Trump and Xi. For Taiwan, however, that warmth has done little to resolve the fundamental questions hanging over its security and its standing in any evolving arrangement between the world's two most powerful nations.