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BackUS Secretary of State Rubio: Arms sales to Taiwan need to balance the needs of the US military and global commitments
US Secretary of State Rubio: Arms sales to Taiwan need to balance the needs of the US military and global commitments
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自由时报39 minutes agoPolitics2 min readChinaView original

US Secretary of State Rubio: Arms sales to Taiwan need to balance the needs of the US military and global commitments

Sichuan XihuiArms sales to TaiwanRubio

Quick Look

  • Secretary of State Rubio said that arms sales to Taiwan need to take into account the global combat needs of the U.S. military, weapons inventories and the U.S.'s own defense needs, and are not just for Taiwan.
  • He reiterated that the United States announced the largest single arms sale to Taiwan in history in December last year.
  • The Trump-Xi meeting will be held at the White House, and the outside world is paying attention to whether Taiwan issues are involved.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

The Trump administration approved US$11 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan in December last year and has said it will make a decision on a new batch of US$14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.

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The Trump-Xi meeting will take place at the White House on the 24th, and the outside world is paying attention to the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said today that the Trump administration only announced the largest single arms sale to Taiwan at the end of last year. Any foreign arms sale needs to take into account many factors such as the United States' own defense needs, and is currently undergoing an evaluation and trade-off process.

Marco Rubio was interviewed by the media in New York today. When asked about the yet-to-be-approved arms sales to Taiwan, he said that a large part of it also involves balancing US industrial production capacity and the defense industrial base, and this is not aimed at Taiwan.

Please read on...

In response to media questions, is the Trump administration still committed to normalizing and increasing arms sales to Taiwan? Rubio responded that the United States announced its largest single arms sales to Taiwan in December last year.

He said that any U.S. foreign arms sales must be weighed against the minimum needs reported by U.S. military combat commanders around the world in the event of conflict in their respective theaters. This is not just for Taiwan, but for countries around the world.

Rubio said that this is an ongoing trade-off that the U.S. Department of War makes when making recommendations to the government, "so we are in this process," and this applies not only to Taiwan, but also to every commitment made by the United States.

He pointed out that U.S. foreign military sales must consider many factors such as the types of weapons sold, how quickly the U.S. can replenish supplies if it runs out of inventory, and whether the U.S. itself needs these weapons.

Rubio said that although the United States has sufficient ammunition to achieve its goals in response to the situation in Iran, the United States not only faces Iran but also has responsibilities in the Indo-Pacific region. It also has obligations and commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its partners.

U.S. President Trump is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on the 24th, and the outside world is paying attention to whether the Taiwan issue will be touched upon. This will be the second meeting between Trump and Xi this year. It will also be Xi Jinping’s second state visit to the United States after 11 years.

After Trump visited Beijing in May to meet with Xi Jinping, he said that a decision would be made soon on a new batch of US$14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.

Prior to this, Trump 2.0 approved US$11 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan in December last year.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • The United States will announce whether to approve a new batch of arms sales to Taiwan within a few weeks after the Trump-Xi meeting

    Likely · Within weeks

Open Questions

  • Will the Trump-Xi meeting discuss Taiwan issues?
  • Will the United States approve a new round of arms sales to Taiwan?
  • What will be China’s specific response to the U.S.-Taiwan arms sales?

Related Topics

Sichuan Xihui
PeopleRubiotrumpXi Jinping
OrganizationsU.S. Department of Stateus governmentGovernment of the People's Republic of China
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TopicsArms sales to TaiwanRubiotrumpXi Jinpingwhite housearms sales assessment
This article was originally published by 自由时报.

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