Yu Damo called on the United States to speed up the progress of arms sales to Taiwan and emphasized that Taiwan should not become a bargaining chip between the United States and China.

my country's representative in the United States, Yu Da'ao, accepted an exclusive interview with Bloomberg and called on the United States to speed up the progress of arms sales to Taiwan totaling US$14 billion. (AP file photo)

After U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Washington at the end of September, the arms sales to Taiwan totaling US$14 billion (approximately NT$445 billion) have not yet been finalized. In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg TV, Taiwan’s representative in the United States, Yu Dai, said that the arms sales “obviously can be faster.” A senior U.S. government official revealed that Trump will decide whether to approve the arms sales “in a fairly short period of time,” but did not provide a specific timetable.

In an interview on the "Bloomberg This Weekend" program, Yu Da'ou pointed out that this batch of arms sales is mainly anti-aircraft equipment. The United States fully understands the security threats Taiwan faces, and he is convinced that the United States will provide the defense equipment Taiwan needs.

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In response to outside concerns about whether the interaction between the US and China heads of state affects Washington's policies, Yu emphasized that the US has made it clear that its policy towards Taiwan has not changed, and that Washington has not accepted or responded to Xi Jinping's request to clearly oppose Taiwan independence. He believes that further clarifying opposition to Taiwan independence will go beyond the US's long-term policy stance of "not supporting Taiwan independence".

As for the expected meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping at an international summit at the end of the year, Yu Dako bluntly stated that Taiwan’s goal is to ensure that Taiwan is not on the menu and does not want Taiwan issues to become a bargaining chip in US-China negotiations or transactions.

Trump will decide in a short time but there is no timetable yet

The arms sales, totaling $14 billion, are still awaiting a final decision from the White House. A senior U.S. official familiar with internal discussions said Trump would make a decision within a short period of time, but did not specify when it would be announced. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, also recently expressed some relief, stressing that Taiwan is a very important partner and ally of the United States, and said that the slowdown in arms sales approval is related to the current severe situation in the Middle East.

The Bloomberg report also revealed the diplomatic episode on the eve of Trump and Xi’s visit to the U.S. National Archives. According to people familiar with the matter, Chinese diplomats worked hard at the last minute to ensure that the San Francisco Peace Treaty signed in 1951 was not on display. The peace treaty stipulates that Japan gives up its rights over Taiwan, but it does not clearly state Taiwan's sovereignty. Therefore, it was not displayed this time, making it a sensitive detail in Trump's and Xi's itinerary.

Ryan Hass, a former White House National Security Council official and researcher at the Brookings Institution, analyzed that Trump may continue to promote arms sales to Taiwan during his term of office, and may also proceed in batches with smaller-scale arms sales in the future. But he also reminded that the uncertainty caused by the delay in arms sales may make it easier for Beijing to spread an isolationist narrative to Taiwanese society.