Nation States Update: Xi Threatens Taiwan, NVIDIA CEO Resigns & Trump-Xi Summit Diplomacy

Steve Yates (0:01)

Welcome in for today's Nation-States Update. Three things happened Thursday that matter for the week ahead. In Beijing, Xi Jinping marked Sun Yat-sen's birthday at the Great Hall of the People. According to Xinhua, Xi said, The complete reunification of our motherland must be realized, and it can, without a doubt, be realized. He said, China can never leave any room for Taiwan independence in any form. He did not mention the use of force. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said the language was not much different from the past, and made the point that's easy to forget. The People's Republic has never ruled Taiwan for a single day.

That same day, Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported 29 PLA aircraft and drone sorties, 22 of them across the median line, in what Taipei called Joint Combat Readiness Patrol.

That's higher than the last two patrols this month. Whether the speech and the patrol were timed together, we don't know. The pressure on Taiwan is real either way.

Also Thursday, Nvidia announced Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately. The company gave no reason. CFO Colette Cress is interim CEO. Huang has not been charged. China has denied the espionage claims around this story as unsubstantiated. The chip diversion allegations are still being investigated. The question for the United States is not one of executive. It's whether our export controls on advanced ships are actually being enforced.

And on Wednesday, Secretary Rubio spoke with China's Wang Yi at Beijing's request. The State Department says they discussed President Trump's upcoming trip to the APEC summit in China and Xi's upcoming visit to Florida for the G20.

The State also says both sides agreed on the importance of leader-level talks on peace and denuclearization, including at any potential trilateral meeting with Russia. China's own readout did not mention denuclearization, a trilateral or either trip by name. That's Washington's account, not a joint announcement. APEC is next week in Shenzhen, and the G20 is in Florida in December. One more, President Trump said Thursday he has asked Vice President Vance to focus on crime and corruption here at home. In the same post, the president said, We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. If you missed last night's episode, 8 Lessons from the Iran Conflict of 2026, it's up now. Subscribe and follow wherever you listen. And until next time, stay strong, America.