U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday attempted to clarify President Donald Trump’s recent threat to withhold arms sales to Taiwan, downplaying suggestions of a rift in U.S. support for the island.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” Greer said there is “no change” in American policy on Taiwan, seemingly contradicting comments Trump made last week to hold back on approving a $14 billion arms deal to the island, which China considers to be part of its territory.
“The president’s very focused on making sure that nothing happens there,” Greer said. “This is why, when he talked to the media afterward, he said, ‘I made no commitments to President Xi on Taiwan’ and the president will keep his own counsel on the sales and when and if that happens.”
The Trump administration in December approved a record $11 billion package for Taiwan. But Trump last week said he was deliberating how to handle another major arms sale to Taiwan, following a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. In an interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier, the president said the decision would depend on China, which would be a significant change in American foreign policy,
“I haven’t approved it yet. We’re going to see what happens,” Trump said I may do it, I may not do it. I’m holding that in abeyance, and it depends on China. It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly. It’s a lot of weapons.”
But Trump’s discussion of the sale with Xi could be an apparent violation of the Six Assurances, a series of commitments made by President Ronald Reagan’s administration that the U.S. wouldn’t consult Beijing on weapon sales to the island.
“What am I going to do, say I don’t want to talk to you about it because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982?” Trump told reporters on Air Force 1 on Friday. “We discussed the whole thing with the arm sales in great detail actually.” He added that he would make a decision “over the next fairly short period.”
Trump’s comments suggest another possible violation — this time of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which commits the U.S. “provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character and shall maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan.”
“The reality is: It’s really important for the United States and China to have a stable relationship,” Greer said Sunday. “These are two important economies. The issue of Taiwan arms sales is something the Chinese always raise. So, the president’s considering how to approach that.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson told “Fox News Sunday” that the U.S. military and every president “has been watching this closely,” and that Congress remains committed to supporting Taiwan’s independence.
“We have an interest in that, as again do all freedom-loving people around the world,” Johnson said. “China cannot just go over and take the land, and we’re going to stand strong and resolute by that — I know the Congress will.”
Phelim Kine contributed to this report.