Xi expected to press Trump on Taiwan arms sales during Washington visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Washington this week, is expected to press US President Donald Trump at their summit to halt arms sales to Taiwan, invoking the 1982 US-China joint communiqué as the basis for his demands.

Reuters reported Tuesday, citing sources, that China is likely to put its interpretation of the third bilateral joint communiqué — the Aug. 17 communiqué signed in 1982 — front and center during the talks. In that statement, the United States said it intended to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan and would not pursue a long-term policy of such sales.

China is demanding not only that Washington halt approval of new arms sales but also that it stop delivery of weapons Taiwan has already contracted and ordered. One source said Xi plans to characterize Taiwan to Trump as "a provocateur, the sole source of instability in US-China relations, and an actor unilaterally changing the status quo," escalating the pressure on the US side.

In exchange, China is offering to use its influence to pressure Iran — a potential bargaining chip aimed at helping the United States navigate the prolonged conflict in the Middle East. Xi is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Wednesday and hold a formal summit at the White House on Thursday. On Friday, the final day of his visit, he is also considering raising the 1982 communiqué directly during a planned visit to the US National Archives and Records Administration.

The Trump administration has for months withheld approval of a second arms package worth approximately $14 billion for Taiwan, following last year's approval of an $11 billion package — the largest in history. Trump acknowledged holding up the sale shortly after his meeting with Xi in Beijing in May, calling it "a very good negotiating chip." A White House official said Trump would make a final decision on whether to approve new arms sales soon.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States has a legal obligation to provide Taiwan with defensive means. When signing the 1982 communiqué, then-President Ronald Reagan noted in a memo that any reduction in arms sales must be conditioned on China's pursuit of a peaceful resolution. The same year, Washington issued its "Six Assurances" to Taiwan, including a pledge not to set a date for ending arms sales.

Members of Congress and national security experts have pushed back sharply against any suggestion that the Trump administration might concede on Taiwan. Sen. Pete Ricketts, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, urged the administration to make clear that "the United States' longstanding position that Taiwan cannot be taken by force has not changed." Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Trump urging him to "immediately and without hesitation reject" China's demands to halt arms sales.

Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser at the White House, predicted Xi would deliver "a long lecture to Trump on Taiwan, as he has in past meetings," and said the chances of any substantive agreement on Taiwan emerging from the summit were low. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was closely monitoring high-level US-China contacts and maintaining close communication with Washington.