After the US-China summit, cross-party US senators urged Trump to immediately deliver arms sales to Taiwan

After the summit between U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping came to an end, cross-party leaders in the U.S. Congress expressed their views one after another, emphasizing that Washington’s security commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid and that arms sales to Taiwan are key to maintaining regional peace, stability and strategic deterrence. More than 20 Democratic federal senators jointly issued a statement calling on the Trump administration to immediately deliver defense assistance to Taiwan approved by Congress, including arms sales to Taiwan worth US$14 billion (approximately NT$440 billion).

China has repeatedly called for a halt to arms sales to Taiwan. In May this year, after visiting Beijing, Trump said that he would suspend a new arms sales plan worth approximately US$14 billion. The outside world is paying attention to when this plan will be released.

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The "Trump-Xi meeting" held by the leaders of the United States and China in Washington last week attracted much attention from all walks of life. During the summit, both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's high-profile reception of Xi Jinping and the failure of the "Trump-Xi meeting" to make breakthroughs on many important issues. Democrats even called on Trump to immediately implement the security assistance and arms sales to Taiwan that have been approved by Congress, totaling more than 14 billion US dollars.

After the Trump-Xi meeting, Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also issued a statement saying that U.S. support for Taiwan's self-defense is "non-negotiable" and is crucial to preventing cross-strait conflicts that will undermine regional stability and threaten the global economy. Xia Heng also strongly demanded that the Trump administration should immediately deliver defense assistance to Taiwan including new arms sales worth US$14 billion approved by Congress.

Senators who jointly issued the statement also include 20 senators including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, top Democratic member of the Senate Armed Services Committee Jack Reed, Senators Chris Coons, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Tammy Duckworth, Andy Kim and Elissa Slotkin.

In addition to the Democratic Party, Republican Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger Wicker also issued a press release stating that earlier this week he also met with my country’s representative to the United States Yu Dazhao. The two sides discussed in depth the United States’ security commitments to Taiwan and China’s intensified provocations against its Indo-Pacific allies. Weicker also cited the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979 and emphasized that as a member of Congress, it is his responsibility to ensure that this law is implemented and observed, and to determine Taiwan's defense needs based on the joint assessment of military necessity by both parties, reminding the United States of its obligation to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons in accordance with the law.