Taiwan leader has 'faith' US will defend island against a Chinese attack

Taiwan's president says she has "faith" the United States would defend the island against a Chinese attack, as Beijing and Washington trade barbs over Taipei's place on the global stage.

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Tsai Ing-wen also confirmed for the first time that US troops were training Taiwanese forces on the island.

The comments from Tsai came after US President Joe Biden rebuked Beijing over its actions near Taiwan at a virtual East Asia summit attended by China's premier.

The two world powers had already faced off over Taiwan's involvement with the United Nations, with Washington saying it should be better integrated into the world body for "pragmatic" purposes - and Beijing saying it has no right to join.
The latest statements by Beijing, Washington and Taipei add to an escalation of diplomatic rhetoric and military posturing over the island.

China considers Taiwan - where nationalist forces fled in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists - to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

When asked by CNN if she was confident that the United States would help defend Taiwan if necessary against China, Tsai replied: "I do have faith."

She highlighted the "wide range of cooperation with the US aiming at increasing our defense capability," including the US military training of Taiwanese forces.

Taiwan functions like any other democratic country with its own elections, government, foreign policy and military.

But in recent years, Beijing has escalated its threats to invade if Taiwan does not agree to unify with China, stepping up efforts to block Taiwanese participation in global bodies and flying hundreds of warplanes into its air defence zone, mostly near the disputed Dongsha islands.

At the East Asia summit, attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Biden said the United States was "deeply concerned by China's coercive and proactive actions... across the Taiwan Strait."

Such actions "threaten regional peace and stability," Biden said.

Biden last week told a televised forum that the United States was ready to defend Taiwan from any Chinese invasion.

The comments were quickly walked back by the White House amid warnings from Beijing, continuing a strategy of ambiguity on whether it would intervene militarily if China attacked.

Tsai told CNN that despite China's aggressive posturing, she is willing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in order to "reduce misunderstanding" and address the differences in their political systems.

"We can sit down and talk about our differences, and try to make arrangements so that we will be able to co-exist peacefully," she said.