The US president has reportedly refused to sign off on a defense package worth more than $400 million<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has refused to approve a weapons package for Taiwan, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing five people familiar with the matter.
\nThe Post linked the decision to Trump\u2019s efforts to negotiate a trade deal with Beijing and his potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to take place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea next month.
\nThe weapons deal, reportedly worth more than $400 million, had been described as \u201cmore lethal\u201d than previous deliveries. According to the Post, Trump\u2019s team believes Taiwan should purchase its own weapons, reflecting the president\u2019s \u201ctransactional\u201d approach to foreign policy. A White House official told the outlet that the decision has not yet been finalized.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
China slams Canada and Australia over Taiwan Strait warship transit<\/p>\n
Beijing, which considers the self-governing island\u00a0an inalienable part of its territory, strongly opposes any foreign military aid to Taipei. Xi has said China seeks peaceful reunification but reserves the right to use force.
\nIn December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Taipei that \u201crelying on the US to seek independence and using military means to pursue independence is a path to self-destruction.\u201d
\nThe Taiwanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report but said that \u201cTaiwan and the US maintain a close security cooperation mechanism, with all exchange programs carried out on schedule to build a comprehensive defense system.\u201d
\nWashington has approved several arms sales to Taiwan in recent years, including the delivery of NASAMS air-defense missile systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president has reportedly refused to sign off on a defense package worth more than $400 million US President Donald Trump has refused to approve a weapons package for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t