To ensure that the U.S. military maintains its own ammunition stockpiles for ongoing operations in the Middle East, the United States has halted a proposed $14 billion arms transfer to Taiwan, BBC quoted US Navy Secretary Hung Cao as saying.
The move comes days after President Donald Trump seemed unsure about the deal after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Cao affirmed this during a Senate hearing.
Reporters were informed on Friday that Taiwan’s presidential office had not received any information regarding “US adjustments to the arms sale” from an official.
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Beijing, which considers the self-governing island as its own and has not ruled out annexing it by force, has long objected to US weaponry sales to Taiwan.
Cao stated during the hearing on Thursday that “right now we’re doing a pause to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty,” referring to the secret name for the joint US-Israeli military action in Iran. We’re just making sure we have everything, but when the administration thinks it’s required, the international military sales will resume.”
Cao responded that he had “not spoken to the Taiwanese” when asked what he had learned from them regarding a halt in the arms trade.
Trump’s acceptance of the $14 billion plan had been pending for months. According to a March Reuters report, it includes surface-to-air missile systems and air defense missiles like Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3.
Trump told Fox News last week that the package was “a very good negotiating chip” with China, but he has not yet confirmed that he will approve it.
Additionally, he informed reporters that he will “decide over the next fairly short period” regarding Taiwan’s purchase of arms.
Following a presidential summit in Beijing, where Xi informed Trump that Taiwan was the most crucial issue between the US and China, such remarks were made.
Trump then informed reporters that he had spoken with Xi “in great detail” about US arms supplies to Taiwan, despite a 1982 US commitment to Taiwan that the US would not confer with Beijing on the subject.
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Additionally, Trump has stated that he will discuss the sale with Taiwanese Premier Lai Ching-te directly, a dramatic break from diplomatic custom that is sure to infuriate Beijing.
When the US approved a $11 billion (£8.2 billion) arms sale to Taiwan last December—one of the biggest such packages ever—Beijing fiercely objected. At the time, China’s foreign ministry declared that it would “accelerate the push towards a dangerous and violent situation across the Taiwan Strait.”
US arms supplies are a “key factor in maintaining regional peace and stability,” according to Taiwan’s leader Lai Ching-te.
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