US President Donald Trump offered an arms deal to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was on a visit to the United States last week. US ambassador to China, David Perdue, on Sunday said that Trump asked his geopolitical rival if he would like to buy American weapons.
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. 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. Following that meeting, the US paused a record $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, while Trump described weapons sales to the island as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.
China has maintained the claim that Taiwan was part of its territory. He did not say when Trump had made the proposal. Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to stop arms sales to Taiwan, including during Trump and Xi’s summit in Beijing in May.
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. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not directly confirm Perdue’s remarks when asked about them on Monday.
