US President Donald Trump offered an arms deal to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was on a visit to the United States last week. US ambassador to China, David Perdue, on Sunday said that Trump asked his geopolitical rival if he would like to buy American weapons.
Speaking to Shannon Bream on ‘Fox News Sunday’, Perdue said the offer came in response to the Chinese president’s objection to sale of weapons to Taiwan, a democratically governed country. China has maintained the claim that Taiwan was part of its territory.
ALSO READ: Xi-Trump meet: US wooing China means it’s abandoning India? Point Blank decodes Delhi’s strategy
Reacting to Xi’s contention, Trump reportedly tried to justify the pending US arms sale to Taiwan by downplaying it as just one of its many sales.
Discussing the US’ arms sales to Taiwan, Perdue quoted Trump as saying, “Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.”
Talking about the Trump’s proposal to Xi, Perdue said, “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some (arms), at one point.” He did not say when Trump had made the proposal.
David Perdue said Trump had raised the possibility of selling US arms to China, an extraordinary proposal that, if pursued, could mark a major shift in Washington’s longstanding policy toward Beijing and Taiwan, and potentially expose sensitive US technology to a geopolitical rival.
ALSO READ: From farm goods to toys: US, China finalise $30 billion tariff deal
Bream referred to concerns raised by Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delays in aid packages and weapons orders for Taiwan, the self-governed island facing the threat of a Chinese invasion. She asked whether Washington was withholding arms from Taiwan to avoid upsetting Xi, who visited Trump the previous week.
Perdue rejected that suggestion, saying Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” and had approved substantial weapons sales to the island.
Under US law, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Although the US does not formally recognise Taiwan as an independent country, it remains the island’s most important unofficial supporter and arms supplier. Successive US presidents, however, have maintained ambiguity over whether American forces would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan.
Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to stop arms sales to Taiwan, including during Trump and Xi’s summit in Beijing in May. Following that meeting, the US paused a record $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, while Trump described weapons sales to the island as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.
During their private White House meeting last week, Xi urged Trump to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not directly confirm Perdue’s remarks when asked about them on Monday. He said Beijing had always strengthened its defence capabilities according to its needs and remained committed to preserving global peace and stability.
