By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, May 16 (Reuters) – U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have always been a cornerstone of regional peace and stability and are something confirmed in U.S. law, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said on Saturday after President Donald Trump said he had not decided on future sales.
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. 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.
But on Friday after a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Trump said he had not decided whether to proceed with a major weapons sale, adding to uncertainty about U.S. support for Taiwan.
TRUMP MAY SPEAK TO TAIWAN PRESIDENT
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Saturday, Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi said U.S. arms sales are confirmed under the Taiwan Relations Act.
“Taiwan-U.S. arms sales have always been a cornerstone of regional peace and stability,” he said.
In December, the Trump administration approved a record $11 billion arms sale package for Taiwan. Reuters has reported a second one, worth around $14 billion, still awaits Trump’s approval.
Chen declined to comment on the second package because it has yet to be made public, saying Taiwan would continue to communicate with and understand the situation from the U.S. side.
Taiwan’s government has been stymied by the opposition-controlled parliament in trying to pass $40 billion in extra defence spending. Earlier this month it approved two-thirds of what the government wanted but specified it was for U.S. arms.
U.S. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have strongly urged the Trump administration to continue with weapons sales.
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 U.S.
In comments to journalists after his summit with Xi, Trump also appeared to suggest he would speak with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te about the proposed sale, saying, “I have to speak to the person … that’s running Taiwan.”
CHINA MAINTAINED PRESSURE DURING SUMMIT
Asked about that possibility, Chen said Taiwan still needed to try to understand the “true intent” of Trump’s remarks.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control and has rebuffed repeated offers of talks from Lai, whom it says is a “separatist”.
Chen said that the Republic of China, Taiwan’s formal name, is a “sovereign and independent country”, reiterating the government’s long-standing position.
“And only the 23 million people of Taiwan can decide our own future through democratic means.”
China’s military, which operates around Taiwan almost daily, did not let up its pressure while Trump was in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan’s China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council, said China has long sought to use pressure to push for talks and military force to push for “unification”.
“That has always been the basic tone of its Taiwan policy,” he said, standing next to Chen.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)
