Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants to strike a deal with the Trump administration, with Xi reportedly willing to pay a heavy price if he can win U.S. support for its unification with Taiwan, according to insider sources who talked to China observer and leading pro-democracy figure Yuan Hongbing.
Yuan’s sources are considered mainly to be divided into two groups: conscience-driven individuals from within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) system, who advocate for democracy and seek to overthrow the communist regime; and the “Red Second Generation,” who are descendants of high-ranking CCP officials or revolutionary leaders who oppose Xi’s personal dictatorship, including members of CCP elite families who have been persecuted by the regime and harbor deep hatred toward Xi.
The former Beijing University law professor living in Australia said that his intelligence on this topic has been corroborated independently by these two groups, which gives him some confidence in their insight to understand the specific plans that Xi plans to offer Trump.
Yuan’s conscience-driven source revealed that during an internal CCP meeting, Xi explained his plan to use the Taiwan issue as leverage in negotiations with Trump. Xi told officials that if they could resolve the Taiwan issue in line with the CCP’s interests, it would be a milestone marking the “rise of the East and the decline of the West.”
Yuan said one of his Red Second Generation sources told him Xi has “a general principle for dealing with Trump: ‘Use great struggles to accumulate strength, and then negotiate from that position of strength.’”
China is currently facing countless points of tension and tough negotiations with the United States, including on Panama, TikTok, Trump’s threat of tariffs, and many other issues.
However, the source said he believes Xi’s plan will fail. They said that after 12 years of failures under Xi’s governance, with many unfinished projects that Xi personally commanded, Xi’s plan to negotiate a deal with Trump for the reunification of Taiwan will likely be another futile attempt.
Yuan agreed that Xi’s plot is unlikely to succeed, no matter what is offered to Trump.
Xi’s push for global communist expansion led by the CCP, with the annexation of a free Taiwan as a key pillar to that plan, is fundamentally opposed to Trump’s vow to “Make America Great Again” and lead the world to peace through strength, Yuan said.
Trump recently declared in his speech at the Commander-in-Chief Inaugural Ball: “Through our power and might, we will lead the world to peace. Our friends will respect us, our enemies will fear us, and the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military.”
Yuan said that, on the contrary, Xi’s plan will likely become another “unfinished project” that will lead to the downfall of the CCP’s tyranny itself.
Trump has also denied any discussions with Xi on the idea of the United States opposing Taiwan’s independence in exchange for brokering a Russia-Ukraine cease-fire.
Taiwan as the Centerpiece of Xi’s Offer
Yuan’s sources said Xi told a December 2024 Politburo and an internal meeting of the National Security Commission of the Central Committee of the CCP that during his previous talks with former U.S. President Joe Biden, he explicitly requested the United States not only oppose Taiwan independence but also support cross-strait reunification. He reportedly made the same demand in his dealings with Trump.The sources also said that Xi has tasked his diplomats with using private channels to ensure Trump’s team understands that as long as the United States supports “cross-strait reunification,” Beijing is willing to make significant concessions in other negotiations.
Yuan, who had direct contact with Xi Jinping in 1980s, believes that this is likely Xi’s preferred strategy for securing the CCP’s annexation of Taiwan.
It is Xi’s judgment that if he can make a deal to convince the Trump administration on this issue, Xi believes this would have a powerful disintegrating effect on Taiwan’s military and society, Yuan said. This would be beneficial for the CCP in achieving what it calls the “first battle is the last battle” for the Taiwan Strait.
It appears Xi also made efforts to turn down the temperature of U.S.-China hostility ahead of Trump’s inauguration. China’s state media outlets recently removed “anti-U.S.” reports and instead published articles promoting “China-U.S. friendship.”
The sources also told Yuan that various relevant Chinese national agencies had already begun implementing Xi’s core strategic plan for dealing with Trump’s administration as of December 2024.
He said this was essentially a signal from the CCP to the Trump administration, suggesting that if the U.S. demonstrates sincerity in negotiating on Taiwan, the CCP is willing to make concessions, including on South China Sea issues with U.S. allies like Japan.
Promoting Anti-US Sentiment in Taiwan
Surrounding Xi’s core strategy to negotiate with Trump, Xi’s close confidant and head of the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Song Tao, has also made moves, Yuan noted.The sources revealed that in late December 2024, Vice Chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia held a military training meeting for senior officers in the Eastern and Southern Theater Commands, instructing them that in the event of major social unrest in Taiwan, the military must be ready to enter combat status at short notice.
