Taiwan‘s government on Saturday pressed the US to approve the latest arms package to the self-governing island.
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday after he concluded a high-stakes summit with China’s Xi Jinping that he had not decided on future sales when asked about it. “I may do it. I may not do it,” Trump said.
In December, the Trump administration approved a record $11 billion (9.46 billion euros) arms sale package for Taiwan.
Other media outlets, including the Reuters news agency and The New York Times, have reported that a second deal, worth around $14 billion, is still awaiting Trump’s approval.
Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi said earlier Saturday that Taiwan would continue to communicate with the US to understand the situation from Washington’s side.
He declined to comment on the second package because it has not been made public yet.
Taiwan reminds US of commitment to provide weapons
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s spokesperson Karen Kuo said Saturday that China’s military threat is the “sole destabilizing factor” in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Taiwan Strait.
“Furthermore, military sales between Taiwan and the US are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act, but also serve as a mutual deterrence against regional threats,” she said.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act established in 1979, Washington is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Taiwan featured prominently during Trump-Xi summit in Beijing
Xi Jinping has been working to weaken the US commitment to defending Taiwan, the self-governing island it claims as its own. Beijing has not ruled out resorting to military action to bring Taiwan under its control.
During their meeting in Beijing earlier this week, Xi told Trump that any mishandling of the Taiwan issue could lead to an “extremely dangerous situation.”
Trump didn’t take questions from reporters during the trip, but on his way home to Washington, he told reporters on board Air Force One that he and Xi had discussed Taiwan “a lot.”
Trump said he would “make a determination over the next fairly short period” when asked about weapons sales to Taiwan.
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US policy on Taiwan has not changed, Trump says
Trump said in his interview with Fox News that US policy on Taiwan hasn’t changed, although he warned Taipei not to formally declare independence. “Nothing’s changed. I will say this. I’m not looking to have somebody go independent.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that Taiwan “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China.”
The US has a decades-long policy of ambiguity towards the self-governing island. It is Taiwan’s main weapons provider but does not formally recognize it diplomatically, in line with Beijing’s One China policy.
But analysts say that Trump’s discussions with China over Taiwan may have tested Washington’s longstanding policy on not consulting China over sensitive topics regarding Taiwan.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
