Trump Denies Asking Xi to Buy US Arms
Crhk · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
US President Donald Trump said he did not ask President Xi Jinping last week whether China was interested in buying American weapons, contradicting remarks made by US Ambassador to China David Perdue in a Fox News interview on Sunday. Perdue had said Trump raised the idea to show that Washington sells arms globally and not only to Taiwan, in an apparent attempt to soften the sensitivity of US arms sales to Taipei. Asked about the claim in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he had not heard about it and suggested Perdue may have confused China with Taiwan. The US State Department also said US law bars arms sales to China and that there is no proposal or plan to sell weapons to Beijing
Key Points
- Perdue said on Sunday that Trump, during last Thursday's meeting with Xi, asked whether China had any interest in buying some US weapons
- In the same interview, Perdue said Washington's policy on Taiwan had not changed and discussions on future US arms sales to Taiwan were continuing.
- A White House official denied that the United States would sell arms to China after Perdue's remarks triggered questions over a possible policy shift
- Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he never discussed arms sales with Xi, though he added Chinese buyers might want superior US weapons
- In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun did not confirm Perdue's account and said China builds defence capabilities according to its own needs
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the episode underscores how quickly mixed messaging in Washington can unsettle already sensitive cross-strait issues tied to US-China relations. It also shows that any suggestion of changing long-standing arms-sale boundaries can immediately draw scrutiny from Beijing, Washington and regional observers.