WASHINGTON: The United States is pausing a $14bn (£10.4bn) arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has sufficient weapons for the Iran war, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has said.
Cao confirmed the development during a Senate hearing, days after President Donald Trump appeared non-committal about the sale following his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office said on Friday that they had not received any information regarding “US adjustments to the arms sale.”
The proposed sale of US weapons to Taiwan has long angered Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take control.
“Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury — which we have plenty,” Cao said at the hearing on Thursday, referring to the code name for the US-Israel joint military operation in Iran.
“We’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.”
When asked what he had heard from Taiwanese officials about the pause, Cao said he had “not spoken to the Taiwanese.”
The $14bn package has been awaiting President Trump’s approval for months and includes air defence missiles such as Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 and surface-to-air missile systems, according to a Reuters report in March.
Trump has not yet confirmed final approval of the package and told Fox News last week that it was “a very good negotiating chip” with China.
He also told reporters that he would “make a determination over the next fairly short period” regarding the weapons sale to Taiwan.
These remarks followed a presidential summit in Beijing, where Xi Jinping told Trump that Taiwan remained the most important issue in US-China relations.
Trump later said he had discussed US arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail” with Xi, even though a 1982 US assurance to Taiwan pledged that Washington would not consult Beijing on such matters.
Trump has also indicated he would speak directly with Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te about the arms sale, a move that would mark a sharp departure from diplomatic tradition and is likely to anger Beijing.
US and Taiwanese leaders have not held direct talks for decades, although Trump previously spoke with Lai’s predecessor Tsai Ing-wen when he was president-elect.
Beijing strongly opposed a $11bn (£8.2bn) US arms sale to Taiwan approved last December, calling it a step that would “accelerate the push towards a dangerous and violent situation across the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has repeatedly stressed that US arms sales are a “key factor in maintaining regional peace and stability.”
Under Lai’s leadership, Taiwan has significantly increased its defence spending in response to growing military pressure from China.