Taiwan presses Trump on $14 billion arms deal

Washington: Taiwan has urged the Trump administration to deliver a delayed $14 billion weapons package as quickly as possible, saying its ability to deter Chinese aggression depends on remaining strong and prepared.

Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, made the appeal after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping devoted little public attention to Taiwan during their summit in Washington.

Trump said Taiwan was raised during his discussions with Xi but that the leaders did not spend much time on the issue.

Yui told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Taiwan was absent from the statements issued by Washington and Beijing after the summit.

“It was not the main topic of discussion,” Yui said. “As a matter of fact, during the released statements by both sides on the deliverables or the achievements, Taiwan does not figure in neither side of the papers.”

Beijing described Taiwan as a foundational issue in its relationship with Washington. Yui said the United States did not respond by changing its position towards the island.

“The United States made it very clear that no change in position towards Taiwan,” he said.

Yui pointed to a meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea before Xi’s visit. He said they had supported peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposed coercion.

The focus then shifted to the weapons package approved by Congress but awaiting action by Trump. Taiwan has already paid for the arms, according to CNN’s “State of the Union”.

Yui said the sales were needed to prevent conflict rather than provoke one.

“This purchase or this sale actually is peace through strength is the best way to avoid any conflict,” he said. “The notion that China will not attack Taiwan is on the basis that Taiwan is strong.”

Yui said Taiwan was increasing its defence budget and wanted to shoulder more of the cost of protecting itself. The United States remains its principal weapons supplier.

“We hope that we can get that weapons in as soon as possible,” he said.

Several Republican senators have also questioned why more than $1 billion in additional assistance has not been delivered, CBS said.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz attributed delays in weapons deliveries to pressure on the American defence industrial base.

“There is a huge backlog of arms, and a lot of this is about our industrial base and being able to produce not only what they are requesting, but what the Europeans are requesting,” Waltz told CNN.

He said Washington also had to account for the requirements of the US military and competing international demands.

Waltz said the Trump administration had authorised more arms sales to Taiwan during its first year than the previous administration had approved during its entire term. He did not provide a date for presidential approval of the $14 billion package.

Yui also argued that Taiwan’s importance extended beyond its position in the western Pacific. The island produces many of the advanced semiconductors used in artificial intelligence systems, servers and other critical technologies.

“Taiwan has been the relevant partner in terms of technology, in terms of semiconductors especially,” he said.

Taiwan governs itself, but Beijing claims the island as part of China and has not ruled out using force to establish control. The United States does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei but is legally committed to helping Taiwan retain the ability to defend itself.

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