Sep 28, 6:02 AM
Trump’s China arms pitch puts Taiwan back on the bargaining table
David Perdue says Trump floated a sale to Beijing as Washington keeps sending weapons to Taipei under a law that refuses to go away.
Donald Trump appears to have taken his deal-making habit to one of the few places where it was always bound to look reckless: the US-China dispute over Taiwan. In a Fox News interview aired on Sunday, the US ambassador to China, David Perdue, said Trump suggested selling arms to Beijing while Washington continues to supply Taiwan with weapons.
Perdue said the matter came up again when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the United States last week. In his account, Trump pointed out that the US sells arms to other countries and asked Xi whether he would like to buy some too. Perdue also said the two men discuss arms sales whenever they meet, while the American position has not changed. One can admire the consistency, if not the elegance, of a policy that seems to invite both sides to worry at once.
The legal framework is hardly ambiguous. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is required to provide Taiwan, which has a democratically elected president and legislature, with weapons for its defence. China rejects that premise entirely and says Taiwan is part of its territory. The result is a recurring tension that neither side appears eager to retire.
The latest episode did not emerge from nowhere. In June, China warned Taiwan that seeking independence, whether by relying on the United States or through military means, was a dead end. In May, Trump suggested that a future arms package for Taipei could be used as a negotiating chip with China, a remark that naturally raised doubts in Taiwan about how safely its security sits in the hands of a man who likes leverage almost as much as he likes headlines.
Washington has already approved an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, and Perdue said it amounted to more weapons for Taiwan than any other president has sold since 1979. That will reassure those who believe deterrence depends on steady supply. It will not impress Beijing, which sees the sales as a challenge, or calm Taipei, which has little reason to enjoy being discussed as a bargaining item.
The result is a familiar but awkward picture. Trump is still treating arms sales as a negotiable asset, Xi is still pressing Washington to take a harder line on Taiwan independence, and the United States is still bound by law to keep Taiwan armed. Stability, in this corner of foreign policy, seems to mean everyone is dissatisfied for roughly the same reasons.
Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com
