Trump told Taiwan not to 'go independent' - but does it want to?

Most also want to maintain the status quo - which means neither formally declaring independence nor unifying with China.

The official position of the Taiwanese government under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has ruled Taiwan since 2016, caters to this view.

President Lai, and his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, have insisted that since Taiwan considers itself an independent country, there is no need to formally declare independence.

This is essentially a way of asserting Taiwan's sovereignty while also ensuring they do not cross China's red line.

Even if they wanted to, neither the president nor the government can easily declare independence - it can only be done formally if Taiwan's parliament-like Legislative Yuan passes a constitutional amendment and if a majority of citizens vote for it in a referendum.

But Beijing remains wary of the DPP, which in its early days advocated for sovereignty, and particularly reviles Lai who made strong comments against Beijing in the past before taking office. It often lambasts him and his party as "pro-independence" separatists.

While Trump's recent comments about Taiwan have generated headlines, no US government has ever stated explicitly that Taiwan should be independent.

Following his summit with Xi, Trump said the Chinese leader "doesn't want a movement for independence" in Taiwan and that Trump "heard him out" but "didn't make a comment on it".

The US, on the whole, tries to maintain a delicate balancing act when it comes to the hugely sensitive issue of Taiwan.

In 1979, the US severed formal ties with the island when Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing. This means that the US acknowledges Beijing's position that there is only one Chinese government - in Beijing.

But in the same year, the US passed the Taiwan Relations Act which states that the US can "provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character" - which is why it continues to sell weapons to Taiwan to this day.

The act also states that peace in the area is in the US's interests and that it maintains the capacity "to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardise the security or the social or economic system" of Taiwan.

This is why Trump's latest warning to Taiwan has surprised some observers, who see it as a sign that the US may be wavering in its commitment to the island - and suggest that Xi may have made inroads in influencing the US president.

Ryan Hass, an analyst with the US think tank Brookings Institution, said that Trump had "elevated the risk of confrontation" as his "visible sympathy for Xi's framing on Taiwan will embolden Beijing to increase pressure on Taipei".

But Trump also stressed that "nothing's changed" when it comes to US policy on Taiwan and even expressed a desire to speak to Lai directly - something that would enrage Beijing, as it did the last time Trump spoke to a Taiwanese president.

Many will be watching what the US does next to see if there is indeed a policy shift, such as whether Trump will approve a potential $14bn (£10.4bn) arms package to Taiwan, following an $11bn (£8.2bn) weapons sale announced in December.

After the summit, Trump was non-committal about giving final approval to the latest package, telling Fox News that it "depends on China" and that "it's a very good negotiating chip for us frankly". He later told reporters he would "make a determination over the next fairly short period".

Bound by the Taiwan Relations Act, the US policy on Taiwan has not fundamentally changed in recent decades despite previous presidents' rhetoric.

Former President Joe Biden twice said the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China, appearing to stray from America's position of "strategic ambiguity" - a policy under which it does not commit to defending Taiwan but also does not rule out the option.

Each time, however, his administration later clarified that US policy on Taiwan had not changed.