Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to urge US President Donald Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan when the two leaders meet in Washington this week, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Xi could raise the issue during a visit to the US National Archives, where he is expected to discuss China’s interpretation of a 1982 US-China joint statement.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has repeatedly demanded an end to US arms sales to the democratically governed island. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Under the 1982 joint communique, the United States said it intended to gradually reduce its arms sales to Taiwan and did not seek to maintain long-term weapons sales to Taipei.
However, an accompanying memorandum by then-US President Ronald Reagan stated that any reduction in arms sales was “conditioned absolutely upon the continued commitment of China to the peaceful solution” of differences with Taiwan.
China has significantly increased its military activity around Taiwan over the past five years, including military exercises involving live missile tests. Chinese forces now operate around the island almost daily.
According to the sources, Beijing has also asked Washington to stop deliveries of weapons already ordered by Taiwan.
One source said Xi could argue that Taiwan is the “provocateur” and the main source of instability in US-China relations, while accusing the island of changing the status quo.
China is also offering to help put pressure on Iran over the ongoing war in the Middle East, the sources said.
Xi is due to arrive in Washington on Wednesday, with formal talks scheduled for Thursday and a visit to the National Archives on Friday.
A White House official said Trump would decide on the new Taiwan arms package within a relatively short period.
During his first term, Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan than any previous US president, while in his second term he approved more during his first year than the entire four-year period under former President Joe Biden, the official said.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it was closely monitoring the high-level US-China exchanges while maintaining “robust communication” with Washington.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite having no formal diplomatic relations with the island.
Washington maintains a “one China policy” under which it takes no official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and acknowledges, without endorsing, Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.
The Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December, the largest such package to date. A second package worth about $14 billion has remained on hold for months.
Following his May meeting with Xi in Beijing, Trump said he was keeping the package in abeyance and described it as a “very good negotiating chip”.
The US also issued the “Six Assurances” to Taiwan in 1982. The assurances, which were declassified in 2020, did not set a date for ending US arms sales to Taiwan or require Washington to consult Beijing before approving such sales.
US Republican lawmakers have continued to voice support for Taiwan ahead of the summit.
Senator Pete Ricketts, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said Trump should maintain the existing US position and make clear that Taiwan would not be taken by force.
“We need to continue just to again let them know that they’re not going to be allowed to take Taiwan by force. That we are not changing our position on that. We’re continuing to support Taiwan,” Ricketts said.
John Moolenaar, Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, also urged Trump in a letter to reject Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation involving Taiwan and other Asian allies.
Matt Pottinger, who served as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first administration, said he did not expect anything “substantive” on Taiwan from this week’s meetings.
“I would bet that Xi Jinping is going to lecture at length President Trump on Taiwan as he has in the last meetings and as he has with other presidents,” Pottinger said.
Ojo Triumph
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