China is pressuring Trump over arms sales to Taiwan: The Financial Times reveals details
21 May 13:11
China is delaying approval of a planned visit to Beijing by Deputy Defense Secretary Elbridge Colby, using it as leverage against U.S. President Donald Trump over a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, the FT reports, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the publication’s source, Colby discussed a trip to Beijing with Chinese officials over the summer, but China made it clear that it could not approve the visit until Trump makes a decision on the arms package.
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The Trump administration planned a new arms package following the announcement last December of a record $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Beijing reacted angrily and canceled a round of talks with Colby regarding a visit to China.
In an interview with Fox News following last week’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump announced a “suspension” of arms sales to Taiwan, adding that this was “a very good bargaining chip” in negotiations with Beijing.
Trump later declined to say whether he would approve the package, causing concern in Taiwan. The Trump administration had planned to notify the U.S. Congress of the arms sale in February but postponed the decision following criticism from China.
When asked about the arms sale, Trump announced a conversation with Taiwanese President William Lai. This conversation could be an unprecedented move for the current U.S. leader and risks worsening Washington’s relations with China. The presidents of the U.S. and Taiwan have not communicated directly since 1979, when Washington shifted its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. However, when Trump was elected president in late 2016, he broke decades of diplomatic precedent by speaking with then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. That phone call drew outrage from China, but Trump’s transition team at the time downplayed the significance of the call.
“I suspect that Beijing will use any future trip by Colby or U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hagset as leverage to force the Trump administration to delay or scale back a potential arms package for Taiwan,” notes Zach Cooper, an expert on Asian security at the American Enterprise Institute.
Hegset became the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2018 when he traveled to Beijing with Trump last week.
The Pentagon said it does not comment on potential trips by officials. But a U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson told the FT that the department “is working to build on the results of President Trump and Secretary Hegset’s historic visit to Beijing.”
The FT source noted that Colby may use the visit to China to discuss a potential new trip by Hegset to Beijing.
In recent years, the Pentagon has been working to improve communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, particularly as the People’s Liberation Army conducts increasingly aggressive military exercises near Taiwan.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, called these exercises “rehearsals” for possible future military action against Taiwan. Beijing considers the island its territory.
“Colby’s visit to China will provide an opportunity to express U.S. concerns regarding Chinese pressure and coercion against U.S. partners and allies, nuclear weapons modernization, as well as cyber and space activities,” noted Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund.
Colby could also provide more details on the U.S. National Defense Strategy, which he helped develop, and discuss the military application of artificial intelligence and communications in crisis situations, Glazer added.
“The Chinese are well aware that President Trump has no intention of halting arms sales to Taiwan, but their ultimate goal is to delay the announcement of another major arms package until after Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington in late September. This is not so much a test of Trump’s resolve to provide defense assistance to Taiwan as it is an attempt to spare Xi from an awkward situation,” said former CIA China expert Dennis Wilder.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington stated that it is “unaware” of the situation regarding Colby. At the same time, the embassy reiterated that Beijing “firmly opposes U.S. arms sales to the Chinese region of Taiwan.”
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