President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had discussed U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing, a step that may have tested Washington’s decades-old assurance to Taiwan not to “consult” on the sensitive topic with China.
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One after his departure from Beijing, Mr. Trump was asked if the topic of U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan came up during the two-day summit with Mr. Xi. Mr. Trump offered somewhat contradictory answers, saying at first: “No, I didn’t say anything about it,” then, moments later, saying that the arms sales had been discussed with Mr. Xi “in great detail.”
Since 1979, Taiwan has received American weapons worth tens of billions of dollars. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory, objects to those arms sales. In 1982, the United States broadened its support of Taiwan with a document known as the Six Assurances, one of which said Washington “has not agreed to consult with” China on arms sales to Taiwan.
Asked about the 1982 commitment, Mr. Trump appeared to downplay its relevance.
“Well, I think the 1980s is a long way,” Mr. Trump said, apparently referring to that commitment. “That’s a big, far distance.”
Mr. Trump told reporters the Chinese leader had brought up the issue of arms sales. “So what am I going to do?” he said. “Say ‘I don’t want to talk to you about it’? Because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982? No, we discussed arms sales.”
Mr. Trump added: “You know, the whole thing with the arms sales was in great detail, actually.”
Mr. Trump has delayed giving final approval for American companies to sell Taiwan weapons worth about $14 billion. His latest comments — which suggest he is weighing Mr. Xi’s objections — are likely to magnify uncertainty in Taiwan about whether or when the deal will be approved.
Mr. Trump said he would make a decision on that issue. But he also added: “I think the last thing we need right now is a war that’s 9,500 miles away. I think that’s the last thing we need.”
This week, Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump that their countries’ dispute over Taiwan, if handled poorly, could lead to conflict and “an extremely dangerous situation.” In a phone call in February, Mr. Xi warned Mr. Trump about those arms sales, telling him to handle the issue with “extreme caution.”
Mr. Trump had earlier signed off on an $11 billion sale late last year, a move that angered Beijing.
What precisely was discussed between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi was not yet clear, said Bonnie S. Glaser, the managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, who specializes in Taiwan policy. “We’re going to have to try and read between the lines, read the tea leaves,” she said.
“But my takeaway or preliminary assessment is that Xi Jinping was quite forceful in expressing his concern about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” she said. “I think Xi Jinping sees an opportunity to get the United States not only to delay arms, but potentially to reduce them and maybe not sell arms for a long period of time.”
President Trump has come under pressure from a group of U.S. lawmakers, who on Friday urged the president to formally notify Congress of the $14 billion arms package. They noted that Taiwan’s legislature had recently approved $25 billion in special funding to pay for the missiles and other weapons from the United States.
“Ahead of your summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, we urge you and your team to make clear that America’s support for Taiwan is inviolable,” the senators wrote.
During the summit, Mr. Trump did not publicly discuss America’s support for Taiwan. And on Air Force One, when asked if he would defend Taiwan in a conflict, Mr. Trump held to the “strategic ambiguity” that American presidents have long maintained: neither denying nor confirming whether Washington would intervene in such a war.
“There’s only one person that knows that,” he said. “You know who it is? Me. I’m the only person.”
Chris Buckley, the chief China correspondent for The Times, reports on China and Taiwan from Taipei, focused on politics, social change and security and military issues.
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