{"id":126039,"date":"2026-05-16T18:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126039"},"modified":"2026-05-16T18:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:54:25","slug":"taiwan-presses-case-for-us-arms-after-trump-says-he-is-undecided-on-new-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126039\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan presses case for US arms after Trump says he is undecided on new sales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Web desk(National Times)- Taiwan\u2019s government pressed the case on Saturday for US arms supplies, saying they \u200bare based on US law and serve as a shared deterrent to regional threats, after US President Donald Trump said he had not decided \u200con future sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is the most important international backer for democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. Washington is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide weapons to the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on Friday, after a summit<\/a> with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Trump said he had not decided whether to proceed \u200bwith a major weapons sale, adding to uncertainty about US support for Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Taiwan relations act<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te\u2019s spokesperson Karen \u200bKuo said China\u2019s escalating military threat is the \u201csole destabilising factor\u201d in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Taiwan Strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFurthermore, military sales \u2060between 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 \u200bserve as a mutual deterrence against regional threats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan thanks Trump for his long-standing and continued support for security in the Taiwan Strait, and Taipei \u200bcontinues to deepen cooperation with Washington, Kuo added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, the Trump administration approved a record $11 billion arms sale package for Taiwan. Reuters<\/em> has reported a second one, worth around $14bn, still awaits Trump\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters in Taipei earlier on Saturday, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi declined to comment on the second package because it has yet to be \u200bmade public, saying Taiwan would continue to communicate with the US to understand the situation from Washington\u2019s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan\u2019s government has been stymied by the opposition-controlled parliament \u200bin trying to pass $40bn in extra defence spending. Earlier this month it approved two-thirds of what the government wanted but specified it was for US arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Republican and Democratic \u200clawmakers have \u2060strongly urged the Trump administration to continue with weapons sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuo Yu-ren, vice president of the Institute for Policy Research, a Taiwan think tank, said Trump might delay approving the new package until after late September when he has invited Xi to visit the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comments to journalists after his summit with Xi, Trump also appeared to suggest he would speak with President Lai about the proposed sale, saying, \u201cI have to speak to the person \u2026 that\u2019s running Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about that possibility, \u200bDeputy Foreign Minister Chen said Taiwan \u200bstill needed to try to understand \u2060the \u201ctrue intent\u201d of Trump\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While spokesperson Kuo\u2019s statement made no mention of whether Lai and Trump would speak, a senior Taiwan security official said the implication from Trump was \u201cquite clear\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe party with whom arms sales are to be discussed \u200bis Taiwan, not Beijing,\u201d the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Chinese military pressure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

China has never renounced \u2060the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and has rebuffed repeated offers of talks from Lai, whom it says is a \u201cseparatist\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lai\u2019s spokesperson reiterated the government\u2019s long-standing position that the Republic of China, Taiwan\u2019s formal name, is a \u201csovereign, independent democratic country\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is self-evident, and Beijing\u2019s claims are therefore without merit,\u201d Kuo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s military, which \u2060operates around \u200bTaiwan almost daily, did not let up its pressure while Trump was in Beijing on Thursday \u200band Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan\u2019s China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council, said China has long sought to use pressure to push for talks and military force to push for \u201cunification\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat has always \u200bbeen the basic tone of its Taiwan policy,\u201d he said, standing next to Chen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Web desk(National Times)- Taiwan\u2019s government pressed the case on Saturday for US arms supplies, saying they \u200bare based on US law and serve as a shared deterrent to regional threats, after US President Donald Trump said he had not decided \u200con future sales. Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nTaiwan presses case for US arms after Trump says he is undecided on new sales - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126039\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taiwan presses case for US arms after Trump says he is undecided on new sales - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- Taiwan\u2019s government pressed the case on Saturday for US arms supplies, saying they \u200bare based on US law and serve as a shared deterrent to regional threats, after US President Donald Trump said he had not decided \u200con future sales. 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