News In Diaspora
US President Donald Trump Brushes Aside Taiwan Concerns Ahead of Xi Meet
US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, shortly after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, 2026. US President Donald Trump (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
President Donald Trump has said he is ready to discuss US arms sales to Taiwan during his visit to Beijing this week, as he suggested his personal chemistry with counterpart Xi Jinping would prevent a Chinese invasion of the island.
The White House said Trump will bring along top US executives including his former nemesis Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook for a trip expected to focus heavily on the US president’s hopes to ramp up trade.
China said it hoped to achieve greater stability between the world’s two largest economies during the visit lasting Wednesday through Friday, the first by a US president since Trump went in 2017.
Asked if the United States should keep selling weapons to Taiwan, a key irritant for Beijing, Trump did not answer directly but said on Monday: “I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi.”
So This Happened (EP 394) reviews: RCCG pastor faces allegations
So This Happened (EP 394) reviews: RCCG pastor faces allegations
“President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion. That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump, after referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said of Taiwan, “I don’t think it’ll happen.”
“I think we’ll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want that to happen,” he said.
But Trump also noted that the United States was “very, very far away” compared with China.
When asked for a response to Trump’s remarks, Taiwan’s foreign ministry vowed to “continue to strengthen cooperation” with the United States, the island’s main security backer, and “build effective deterrence capabilities in order to jointly maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that “China’s opposition to the United States’ sale of weapons to China’s Taiwan region is consistent and clear”.
– Congress backs Taiwan –
The United States recognizes only Beijing but under domestic law is required to provide weapons for the defense of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy which China considers its own.
Under the 1982 “Six Assurances,” a key foundation of US policy on Taiwan after the switch of recognition, the United States said it would not “consult” with Beijing about arms sales to the island.
Trump has long berated allies as not spending enough on their own defense. Days ahead of his trip to China, Taiwan’s parliament Friday approved a $25 billion defense spending bill, although it fell short of the government’s proposal.
Pointing to the vote by parliament, a group of US senators led by Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Trump should immediately green-light a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan.
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“We urge you and your team to make clear that America’s support for Taiwan is inviolable,” wrote the senators, mostly Democrats but including two centrists from Trump’s Republican Party.
Trump should also state that “American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation,” they wrote.
– New sanctions over Iran –
BREAKING NEWS: Trump Delayed The Trip Once Due To War Launched Against Iran, Which Is Still Rebuffing His Appeals For Agreement.
China is the main international customer for Iran’s oil, which Trump has tried to stop all countries from buying through unilateral US sanctions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview Sunday with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” said he was unhappy that Beijing had shared missile technology with Iran.
Trump’s Treasury Department on Monday issued sanctions against 12 individuals and entities it said facilitated the sale and shipment of Iranian oil to China.
The sanctions came even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepared to set up Trump’s visit during talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Seoul on Wednesday.
Bessent and He have been the chief negotiators for the United States and China on all trade and economic issues.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo added on Tuesday that China “firmly opposes” to the sanctions and would safeguard the interests of domestic enterprises.
“Regarding the Iran conflict, the most pressing tasks is to do everything to avoid the resumption of fighting rather than use the conflict to maliciously smear China,” he told a regular news briefing.
Trump and Xi last met face-to-face in October on the sidelines of a regional summit in South Korea.
They agreed then to a one-year truce in a blistering trade war that saw tariffs on many goods exceed 100 percent.
AFP
Breaking News
Xenophoba: Not Only South Africa But Also Many Other Countries Treat Nigerians Harsely
The host of Brekete Family, a Human Rights Radio and Television programme, Ahmed Isah, popularly known as “Ordinary President,” has revealed how the world treats Nigerians differently amid the ongoing Xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Speaking on the Brekete Family programme on Tuesday, Ordinary President also pointed out how Nigeria gave asylum to South African freedom fighters.
Recall that South Africans have killed a handful of Nigerian, Ghanaian, and other African nationals in the recent xenophobic attacks.
Reacting to the development, Ordinary President said, “See what they are doing to Nigerians in South Africa.
“Other nationals from other countries like Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Tanzania, even countries that share common boundaries with them [South Africa]. They are humiliating them.
“Let it not be like they are singling out only Nigerians; that is why they are doing it to other African countries.
“See the approach to other nationals and the approach to Nigerians; you can see the anger and bitterness. The same South Africa that we contributed money to, so that they could regain their freedom.
“South Africans were coming to Nigeria to school on scholarship, their freedom fighters who narrowly escaped will come to Nigeria, and we will give them asylum.
“But Nigerians, let me let you people know, it’s not only South Africa, but almost every country around the world is doing something to Nigerians that they can’t do to other nationals.
“If you go to Canada, go to their prison and check which nationals are more. If you go to India, go to their prison and check, and go to other countries. Nobody seems to be bothered because of the ineffective leadership we have in this country [Nigeria],” he said.
Former presidential candidate of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabi’u Kwankwaso, has reacted to the proposed bill in the US Congress, which seeks to impose sanctions on him over allegations of severe religious freedom violations
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ on Monday, Kwankwaso said it was the handiwork of an indigenous enemy.
DAILY POST recalls that the United States lawmakers initiated a new bill aimed at increasing accountability for human rights abuses in Nigeria.
The legislation, Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act of 2026, contains provision for potential sanctions against Fulani militias and Kwankwaso.
Reacting, the former Kano State governor said, “My name was submitted by our enemies here in this country to the US Congress.
“I can tell you the irony of the whole thing. When Sharia came from Zamfara in the year 2000, I really wanted to study, and even as a Muslim to understand it.
“Some people were too much in a hurry. They wouldn’t wait, and they believe that I was not keen, and somebody wrote a private bill to the State Assembly. Before you know it, they follow the due process and submitted it for signing.
“We studied it, and we realized that it was very important. And we have not seen anything there that actually should stop us. And in any case, even if I didn’t sign, the implication is, within no time, it will become law if I don’t sign.
“So while people were angry at that time with me that I wasn’t enthusiastic, I didn’t submit the bill and so on and so forth, now, fast forwarded to 2026, somebody is blaming me for Sharia in Kano.”
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