US President Donald Trump offered to sell arms to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in response to concern over weapons sales to Taiwan, the US ambassador to China said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday.
US arms sales to the self-ruled island, which China claims is part of its territory and has threatened to seize by force, have long been a thorny issue between Washington and Beijing.
The United States is required by law to supply Taiwan, which has a democratically elected president and legislature, with weapons for its defense.
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US Ambassador to China David Perdue said the issue was raised again when Xi visited the United States last week.
“President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.’ He actually asked President Xi — would he like to buy some? — at one point,” Perdue said in the interview.
“There are continuing conversations about other sales, (Trump) and President Xi talk about that every time they get together,” Perdue said, adding that the US position has not changed.
The White House did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
White House officials said that the US had no plans to sell arms to China, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
The US State Department said in a statement to the New York Times that “US law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”
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The Chinese foreign ministry did not directly answer when asked about the comments on Monday, but said China has “always strengthened its national defense capabilities based on its own needs, and remains committed to maintaining world peace and stability.”
Beijing warned Taiwan in June that seeking independence “by relying on the United States or through military means is a dead end.”
Washington approved a $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, which Perdue said was a sale of “more arms to Taiwan than any other president since 1979.”
The US paused a $14 billion weapons purchase by Taiwan in May, with Trump calling it a “very good negotiating chip” in dealings with China, raising fears that Taiwan’s security could be traded away.
During his Washington trip, Xi repeated his warning that Trump should show “prudence” over Taiwan, and went further to urge the United States to oppose Taiwan independence explicitly.
Both leaders confirmed they would meet again at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November and the G20 forum at Trump’s Doral resort in Miami in December.
