President Donald Trump to halt Taiwan arms sales under a 1982 joint statement during a visit to Washington this week, which he could do at the U.S. National Archives, sources briefed on the matter said. China regularly describes the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, as its most sensitive and important diplomatic issue and has repeatedly called for arms sales to stop.
The U.S. is bound by law to provide democratically governed Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. Three sources familiar with discussions between the U.S. and China ahead of Xi going to Washington this week for a summit with Trump said that China is likely to bring up its interpretation of the third of the three “joint communiques” between the two countries, signed in 1982.
Under that, the U.S. said that it intends to gradually reduce its arms sales to Taiwan and does not seek long-term weapons sales to Taipei. However, in an accompanying memo, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan said U.S. willingness to reduce arms sales is “conditioned absolutely upon the continued commitment of China to the peaceful solution” of differences with Taiwan.
China has sharply stepped up its military activities around Taiwan over the past five years, including staging war games with live missile tests. Its armed forces operate around Taiwan on an almost daily basis. China’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
China’s official People’s Daily on Tuesday said if the Taiwan issue was handled poorly it could push China-U.S. ties “toward a very dangerous situation.” Xi arrives in Washington on Wednesday, with formal talks talking place on Thursday and the archives visit on Friday. A White House official said that Trump has said he will make a determination on the new arms sales package in a fairly short time. In his first term, Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan than any other president in history, and in his second term, he approved more in his first year than all four years under President Joe Biden, the official added.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it continues to closely track developments in U.S.-China high-level exchanges while maintaining “robust communication” with the U.S.. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the matter, said China has also asked for the U.S. to stop deliveries of arms already ordered by Taiwan. Xi could “emphasize to Trump that Taiwan is the provocateur and the sole source of instability in U.S.-China relations, and that Taiwan is the one changing the status quo,” one of the sources said.
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