《TAIPEI TIMES》 US lawmakers urge Trump to maintain arms sales
/ Staff writer, with ReutersFour US Senate Republicans as well as a bipartisan group of US representatives wrote letters to the White House
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, center left, is escorted by US President Donald Trump, center right, at an arrival ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg
/ Staff writer, with Reuters
Four US Senate Republicans as well as a bipartisan group of US representatives wrote letters to the White House on Wednesday calling on the administration to uphold US commitments to supply Taiwan with arms ahead of US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping （習近平）.
Xi is expected to press Trump to halt Taiwan arms sales altogether during his three-day visit to Washington, sources briefed on the matter said.
The Chinese leader landed in Washington on Wednesday night and was after press time last night to hold talks with Trump.
The Trump administration in December last year approved an US$11 billion arms package to Taiwan, the largest ever, but a second US$14 billion package has been on hold for months.
US senators Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis wrote to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth expressing concern about more than US$15 billion in stalled national security assistance for Taiwan.
The letter cites the US Department of State’s failure to move ahead with US$300 million in foreign military financing the US Congress appropriated for Taiwan, the defense department’s failure to obligate US$1 billion and the administration’s decision to withhold approval for a US$14 billion package of foreign military sales.
“We are concerned by President Trump’s description of Taiwan as ‘a very good negotiating chip’ in engagements with Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party,” the letter said.
“It is difficult to imagine how the United States might credibly project influence deterrence in the Indo-Pacific if the price of keeping up diplomatic appearances is denying our partners key deterrent capabilities,” it said.
The state and defense departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubio, speaking to reporters in New York, said the administration had to balance broader needs.
“I know everyone’s focused on Taiwan, but I want you to focus globally for a moment. If we sell you something, we don’t have it anymore. Now, we may be able to make it in the future, but we don’t have it right now,” he said.
“Anytime we do any sales — not to Taiwan, to anybody — it is always balanced against what are our own needs in different parts of the world and whether we can afford to sell something, because we may need it for ourselves. So that’s going through that process,” he added.
Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress rarely question his administration’s actions publicly.
Three of the senators who signed Wednesday’s letter — McConnell, Cornyn and Tillis — are leaving the Senate at the end of this year, with only Murkowski remaining.
In a separate letter addressed to Trump, a bipartisan group of seven US representatives urged the president not to consult China on arms sales to Taiwan.
They commended the administration for its “record-breaking arms package for Taiwan” announced in December last year, saying that this package, alongside other steps taken to deepen bilateral military cooperation, is successfully helping deter Chinese aggression.
“Increasing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, including through additional arms sales, is essential to US security,” they wrote.
The letter also pressed Trump to demand the release of wrongfully detained US citizens in China, called for expanded bilateral law enforcement cooperation to combat the fentanyl crisis and urged Trump to hold Beijing accountable for its weaponization of critical mineral supply chains.
The signatories were US representatives Young Kim, Ami Bera, Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, Gabe Amo, James Moylan, Michael McCaul and Ryan Mackenzie.
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