Viral clip of Hillary Clinton "telling Taiwan to give up" was taken out of context

Sep 15, 2026

A widely shared video claiming the US has abandoned Taiwan turns out to be misleadingly edited — bad news for anyone who believed it, mildly reassuring for Taiwan.

  • Clips circulating online showed Hillary Clinton appearing to say Taiwan should stop resisting and accept unification with China.
  • She was actually describing what Xi Jinping might be thinking, not giving her own advice to Taiwan.
  • The remarks came from an interview marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11, focused on lessons from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
  • Her real point: Iran, backed by China and Russia, is draining US weapons stockpiles, which could tempt Xi to believe Washington can no longer defend Taiwan.
  • Some translations made it worse by reading "Xi" as the English word "she," flipping the meaning entirely.

Outlook: Expect more doctored clips like this as pressure over Taiwan builds, with fact-checkers playing catch-up.

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