TAIPEI — Providing weapons so Taiwan can defend itself and keep supplying semiconductors to the world is in the U.S. national interest, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said Saturday after a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping ended with no major public breakthrough on the island, Reuters reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu asked whether concessions on Taiwan would serve U.S. interests, saying military sales that give Taiwan “sufficient capability to defend itself” and allow its chip industry to keep contributing globally are “important U.S. interests.” Xi told Trump in Washington on Thursday he hoped the United States would adhere to the “correct position” of opposing Taiwan independence. Trump has yet to approve a pending roughly $14 billion arms package he said in May he was holding in abeyance.
U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told CNBC on Friday there has been no change in Taiwan policy, including under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. China’s People’s Daily on Saturday reiterated that Taiwan is “the core of China’s core interests and the first unbreakable red line in China-U.S. relations.”
Sources: Reuters
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