Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said US arms sales and the island’s semiconductor industry serve US interests after the Trump-Xi summit ended without major public breakthroughs. Trump has not said what he will do with a pending weapons package.
Trump said in May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, that he was putting a Taiwan arms package on hold. The administration approved an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, the largest ever; a second package is worth about $14 billion. Wu said Taipei had to pay close attention to whether a decision could be delayed further, as Trump and Xi are expected to meet twice more this year at the APEC and G20 summits.
Wu argued that arms sales should give Taiwan enough capability to defend itself and avoid living under Chinese rule, while its chip industry continues contributing globally. Xi told Trump he hoped Washington would oppose Taiwan independence. US Ambassador to China David Perdue said Friday that Trump's Taiwan policy had not changed, and that Washington wants peace across the strait, opposes coercion and does not support independence.
