US hawks push Trump on multibillion-dollar Taiwan arms deal ahead of Xi summit
Observers say US leader may be ‘miscalculating’ if he attempts to use the US$14 billion package to ramp up pressure on Beijing.
Source excerpt
Washington has reopened discussions on billions in arms sales to Taiwan, casting a shadow over a leaders’ summit just weeks away – a meeting already burdened by bilateral trade frictions.
US President Donald Trump is expected to submit a US$14 billion Taiwan arms package to the US Congress soon, according to senior Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul on Tuesday.
“I am confident the president will forward soon another package to Congress with an additional US$14 billion in critical military defence articles,” the Texas congressman said at a security forum during his third visit to Taiwan, where he received an award from the island’s leader William Lai Ching-te.
Although observers doubt the deal will go through before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the US, they warn that Taiwan is a strict red line and any arms package could derail bilateral talks.
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