Trump proposes US arms sales to Beijing in response to concerns over Taiwan

President Donald Trump has offered Beijing U.S. arms sales in response to Chinese concerns about arms supplies to Taiwan, the U.S. ambassador to China said in a television interview on Sunday.

"President Trump keeps saying, 'Well, we sell weapons to other countries around the world.' “He even asked President Xi (Jinping) if he wanted to buy some, at one point,” Ambassador David Perdue told Fox News, without specifying when this conversation between the two leaders took place.

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Arms sales to Taiwan remain a thorny subject between Washington and Beijing

“There are ongoing discussions about other sales, (Trump) and President Xi talk about it every time they meet,” added David Perdue, specifying that the position of the United States has not changed. In June, China warned Taiwan that “seeking independence through reliance on the United States or through military force is a dead end.”

Washington gave the green light in December to $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. David Perdue pointed out that this agreement showed that the Trump administration had sold "more weapons to Taiwan than any other president since 1979."

Arms sales to Taiwan remain a thorny subject between Washington and Beijing. The United States is legally required to provide the island, governed by a democratically elected president and parliament, with weapons to ensure its defense. China has vowed to regain control of Taiwan, which it considers an integral part of its territory, without excluding the use of force, intensifying its military pressure in recent years.