Trump asked China's president if he wants to buy US arms, ambassador says
Summary
Trump’s ambassador to China said in Washington that Trump justified a pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan by calling it one of many sales the United States makes worldwide. David Perdue said Trump even asked Xi Jinping whether he wanted to buy U.S. arms. The comments came days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit.
Key Facts
- Perdue said Trump discussed the arms issue during Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream after hosting Xi in Washington.
- Bream raised Republican and Democratic concerns about delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan.
- Perdue said Trump continues to talk with Xi about future U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.
- The United States is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, even though it does not recognize Taiwan as a country.
- After a May summit in Beijing, the United States paused a record-breaking $14 billion package, and Trump called arms sales to Taiwan a very good negotiating chip with China.
US President Donald Trump, right, offers his hand to Chinese President Xi Jinping as they depart the National Archives Museum following a tour, Washington, DC, Sept. 25. AFP-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.
David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn't specify when the offer was made.
Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan , the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China’s threat to invade the island. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week.
Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” and has sold it plenty of weapons. Perdue also said Trump and Xi continue to talk about future U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.
“But President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,’” Perdue said. “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point.”
The U.S. is bound by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. While not recognizing Taiwan as a country, the U.S. is the island’s strongest informal backer and arms provider. But multiple U.S. leaders have left ambiguous whether they would commit military force to defend the U.S. ally should China invade.
China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales , most prominently during a previous summit in May between Trump and Xi in Beijing. After that meeting, the United States paused the sale of a record-breaking $14 billion package — and Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.
In their private talks at the White House last week, Xi pressed Trump to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media.
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