The US has frozen a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, amid escalating tensions with China. President Trump's decision to discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before a visit to China and with Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te after the trip have raised questions about the long-standing US policy on the Taiwan issue. US administrations have maintained that the US does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has been its main arms supplier for decades, facing growing military pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened to bring the island under its control if necessary.
Taiwan said Friday that it had not been informed of a U.S. decision to freeze a $14 billion arms package , after a Pentagon official announced the move the previous day.
Presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo told local media that the administration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te had noted the comments by Hung Cao, the U.S. acting navy secretary, but was not aware of any change to the deal, which has been pending President The U.S. has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei but has been its main arms supplier for decades amid growing military pressure from, which claims Taiwan as its own and has vowed to bring the island under its control, if necessary by force.
"The Chinese side firmly opposes the U.S. selling arms to the Taiwan region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday. Before traveling to China last week, Trump said he would discuss the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And after the trip, the U.S. president said he would speak to Lai too.
Both actions would be departures from longstanding U.S. policy on the dispute across theCao told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense on Thursday that the pause on the major arms package for Taiwan was intended to preserveThe Trump administration has repeatedly denied U.S. reports that its munitions stockpiles could be running low, after American forces were said to have used up more interceptors than expected to defend against Iran's Iran's retaliatory drone and ballistic strikes across the Gulf region. From February 28, the U.S. and Israeli militaries exchanged fire with Iran for nearly two months before the April 7 ceasefire.
Trump has acknowledged Taiwan's wait for weapons deliveries but did not link it to war in the Middle East.
After his summit with Xi, Trump said the arms sale could be a" At stake for Taiwan are interceptor missiles for its Patriot PAC-3 system, HIMARS rocket launchers, counter-drone systems and a wide range of other equipment, adding to a delivery backlog totalingThe White House and Taiwan's Presidential Office did not immediately respond to separate written requests for comment.arms sales on the negotiating table with Beijing could violate the Six Assurances, experts say, referring to a set of guarantees given to Taipei after the U.S. and China issued a joint communique in 1982 which included a commitment to gradually reduce weapons transfers to the island.
The assurances, which included a pledge not to consult with China on arms sales to Taiwan, were non-binding, but they have been a mainstay in U.S. policy on cross-strait issues ever since.
"The Trump administration will face a great deal of domestic pressure to approve the arms package soon; if they don't it will look liketo Xi, so the political cost of not approving the sale just increased further," Kharis Templeman, head of the Hoover Institution's Taiwan program, toldTrump’s conundrum, Templeman said, can be traced back to past U.S. administrations, which conditioned the timing of arms sale announcements to avoid angering China.newspaper reported that China was delaying the visit of Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby until Trump makes a determination on Taiwan's $14 billion arms deal.
—a possible first since Washington and Taipei cut diplomatic ties in 1979—could also derail any lasting detente he hopes to secure with Xi and would almost certainly result in the cancelation of the Chinese president's upcoming U.S. state visit in the fall.
US Taiwan China Arms Package President Trump President Lai Ching-Te President Xi Jinping China-US Relations Taiwan Independence Arms Sales US Foreign Policy US Munitions Stockpiles Iran-US Tensions Gulf Region War
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