Taiwan says continued US arms sales are in Washington’s national interest.
Trump has yet to decide on a pending arms package worth about $14 billion.
China calls Taiwan a core interest and opposes US arms sales to the island.
Taiwan has told the United States that providing weapons to the island is in Washington’s national interest, citing its ability to defend itself against China and the importance of its semiconductor industry, Reuters reported on Saturday, a day after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping ended a three-day summit in Washington.
The summit produced no big public breakthroughs on a range of contentious issues, including Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of China. Xi told Trump on Thursday that he hoped the United States would adhere to the “correct position” of opposing Taiwan independence. Taipei is seeking continued US military support as Trump weighs a pending arms package for the island.
Taiwan makes case for continued US arms sales
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said on Saturday that maintaining US military sales would serve American interests by helping Taiwan retain the capability to defend itself and allowing its semiconductor industry to continue contributing to the global economy.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Wu questioned whether making concessions on Taiwan would actually serve US interests.
"Maintaining military sales, giving Taiwan sufficient capability to defend itself so it does not have to live under Chinese rule and "allowing Taiwan's semiconductor industry to continue contributing to the world, these are important US interests", Wu said.
Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and is the main producer of the advanced chips powering the AI revolution.
Reuters reported that Trump said in May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, that he was holding a package of arms sales to Taiwan in abeyance. Trump has not commented on Taiwan following the Washington summit or said what he plans to do about the pending weapons package.
The Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, the largest ever, while a second package is worth about $14 billion.
Taiwan awaits decision on $14 billion package
Trump and Xi are expected to meet twice more this year, at the APEC and G20 summits, and the decision on the pending arms package could be delayed further.
Wu said Taiwan had been in “continuous communication” with Washington about the summit and would continue making preparations and requests.
"Of course, if we can get guarantees, that would be best," he added. "I think what we can do right now is probably the maximum, which is to prepare as much as possible, communicate as much as possible, and make requests as much as possible."
Wang Hung-jen, a political science professor at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University, said the summit outcome was better than had been expected, noting that Xi did not apparently raise arms sales directly and that Taiwan was not the main focus.
"Looking at the results, many things we thought would be very bad didn't happen," he said.
Reuters reported that Taiwan had remained in close communication with Washington during the summit.
US says Taiwan policy remains unchanged
David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, told CNBC on Friday that there had been no change in Trump’s Taiwan policy, including on the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which mandates arms sales to the island.
"We want peace across the strait. We don't want coercion. We don't support independence and we think that, you know, President Xi has gotten that message. President Trump has shown respect and listened to their side of that argument," Perdue said.
On Saturday, the People's Daily, China’s top newspaper, reiterated that position in a commentary, describing Taiwan as "the core of China's core interests and the first unbreakable red line in China-US relations".
