The Trump administration has held up the sale for months ahead of President Trump’s meeting this week with President Xi Jinping of China.
A bipartisan group of senators is pressing President Trump to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, a critical test of the administration’s commitment to the island ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of China later this week.
In a letter sent on Friday, the lawmakers urged the president to formally notify Congress of the arms package and argued that Taipei’s recent approval of a new military spending plan removed any remaining rationale for delay. Senior lawmakers offered early approval to the package in January, but it has stalled in the State Department for months, raising broader questions about the administration’s approach to Taiwan and its effort to recalibrate relations with Beijing.
Administration officials have told some involved in the approval of the sale that the White House directed the hold to ensure that Mr. Trump had a successful meeting with Mr. Xi.
“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. They also warned against allowing support for the self-governing island, which Beijing has threatened to take by force, to become a bargaining chip in broader economic or diplomatic talks with China.
“American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by eight senators: the Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Coons of Delaware, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Andy Kim of New Jersey and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and the Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Curtis of Utah.
On Friday, Taiwan’s lawmakers approved a $25 billion special defense budget, overcoming their own domestic political divisions as well as sustained pressure from Beijing to fund what Taiwanese officials have described as urgently needed deterrence measures.