Taiwan Tops Xi Jinping's Agenda for Trump-Xi Beijing Summit — Taipei Deputy FM Warns Against Being 'Put on the Menu'; Fourth Defense Budget Negotiation Round Scheduled May 6

Multiple diplomatic reports on May 2, 2026 confirmed that Taiwan has emerged as the top priority on Xi Jinping's agenda for the upcoming Trump-Xi Beijing summit (May 14-15) — marking a stark shift from their October 2025 South Korea meeting where Xi had set the Taiwan issue aside. Reporting in the Taipei Times and from The Diplomat confirmed Beijing is expected to press Washington for explicit opposition to Taiwanese independence and for US restraint on arms sales at the summit. Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu, who had earlier warned of Taipei's fear of being 'put on the menu,' remained in intensive diplomatic consultations with US counterparts seeking assurances Taiwan would not be bargained over. The Trump administration maintained publicly that there has been no change in Taiwan policy, and officials privately stressed that Trump approved more weapons sales to Taiwan in just over a year of his second term than Biden did throughout his entire presidency. Meanwhile, Taiwan's fourth round of cross-party defense budget negotiations was scheduled for May 6, 2026 — with the KMT internally divided between those backing an NT$800 billion cap (majority) and a smaller NT$380 billion alternative tied to confirmed US letters of acceptance for specific weapon systems. Public polling consistently showed strong support for President Lai's full NT$1.25 trillion request. The US Senator Banks publicly urged Taiwan's legislature to pass the budget as 'a signal to China, and to the rest of the world, that Taiwan is serious about peace through strength.' With 12 days to the Trump-Xi summit, the pre-summit diplomacy and PLA military pressure cycle reached a new intensity point.