Arming Taiwan Is an Important US Interest, Says Taipei Official After Trump-Xi Summit

Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu has said that arming Taiwan and keeping its semiconductor industry contributing to the world are “important US interests”, in comments to reporters in Taipei on Saturday, made after the end of a three-day summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Wu asked whether making concessions on Taiwan would actually serve US interests, arguing that maintaining military sales, giving Taiwan sufficient capability to defend itself so that it does not live under Chinese rule, and allowing Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to keep contributing are important American interests, according to Reuters.

The summit concluded on Friday, following a meeting in Washington on Thursday at which Xi told Trump he hoped the United States would adhere to the “correct position” of opposing Taiwan independence. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Trump said in May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, that he was holding a package of arms sales to Taiwan in abeyance. He has not commented on Taiwan since the Washington meeting.

The Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, described as the largest ever, with a second package worth some $14 billion still pending, Reuters reported.

Wu said Taiwan’s government had been in “continuous communication” with Washington about the summit, and that Taipei would have to pay close attention to whether a decision on the arms package could be delayed further, given Xi and Trump are expected to meet twice more this year at the APEC and G20 summits.