US ambassador to China, David Perdue, on Sunday said that Trump asked his geopolitical rival if he would like to buy American weapons. US President Donald Trump offered an arms deal to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was on a visit to the United States last week.
China has maintained the claim that Taiwan was part of its territory. He did not say when Trump had made the proposal.
Speaking to Shannon Bream on ‘Fox News Sunday’, Perdue said the offer came in response to the Chinese president’s objection to sale of weapons to Taiwan, a democratically governed country. Talking about the Trump’s proposal to Xi, Perdue said, “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some (arms), at one point.
She asked if the US is denying Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump last week.
David Perdue said Trump had raised the possibility of selling US arms to China, an extraordinary proposal that, if pursued, could mark a major shift in Washington’s longstanding policy toward Beijing and Taiwan, and potentially expose sensitive US technology to a geopolitical rival. During their private White House meeting last week, Xi urged Trump to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media. He said Beijing had always strengthened its defence capabilities according to its needs and remained committed to preserving global peace and stability. Earlier reporting noted: David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the US to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of US policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose US technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn’t specify when the offer was made.
Earlier reporting noted: Shannon Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy, to defend itself from China’s threat to invade the island. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not directly confirm Perdue’s remarks when asked about them on Monday. Earlier reporting noted: President Donald Trump has justified the pending US arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world – even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for US arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.
