US envoy says Trump asked Xi if China wanted American weapons; officials say there is no sale

David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, said President Donald Trump asked President Xi Jinping whether China would like to buy American weapons. On Fox News Sunday, 27 September, he told Shannon Bream: "President Trump continues to say, Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world. He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point." The Hindu, The Times of India and The Guardian all carried that quote. Perdue did not say when the question was asked. The Guardian wrote that Trump offered to sell weapons while hosting Xi in Washington last week. The Hindu and The Times of India reported only that Perdue described a question and gave no date. A sale is not reported as agreed.

After the interview, The Guardian reported, the White House told the New York Times that the United States has no plans to sell arms to China. The State Department said: "US law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China." That is the official position in The Guardian's account. It stands next to Perdue's report of a question, and next to The Guardian's verb "offered."

The interview was about Taiwan. Shannon Bream cited concern in both US parties over delayed weapons for Taiwan, and asked if sales were being held back after Xi's visit. Perdue said Trump "is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody" and has sold Taiwan plenty of weapons. The Hindu reported that the two leaders still discuss future sales to Taiwan, and described a sale to China, if it happened, as a break with long-standing policy. The State Department's sentence says there is no offer and no plan.

A package of about $14 billion for Taiwan is still pending, all three papers said. The Times of India reported an $11 billion deal announced last December. The Guardian called December's deal a record. After Trump's May meeting with Xi in Beijing, the $14 billion package was paused. The Hindu called that paused package a record. The Times of India said Trump has not said whether it will now proceed. He has called sales to Taiwan a "very good negotiating chip." On Saturday, the paper reported, he said: "We didn't talk about Taiwan too much with Xi. Right now, it's, you know, fine. It's just moving along. Xi understands very much how I feel."

The Times of India said the Washington summit extended a trade truce, with differences left on Taiwan, artificial intelligence and Iran. Xinhua reported that Xi urged Trump to "prudently handle the Taiwan question" and to oppose Taiwan independence. The Times of India said the White House did not immediately give its own account of that talk. Beijing's line, in all three papers, is that the arms sales should stop. The Guardian said Beijing "resolutely opposes" them, regards Taiwan as a breakaway province despite never having ruled it, and has not renounced force. The Times of India reported Taiwan's position as a rejection of that claim, with the island's future for its own people to decide.

Deputy foreign minister Chen Ming-chi said Washington understands Taiwan's defence needs and has said its policy is unchanged. Perdue told CNBC there was no change on arms sales to Taiwan. US law requires Washington to give Taiwan the means to defend itself. It does not recognise Taiwan as a country, and has left open whether its forces would fight if China attacked.

What's next

The Times of India reported that Trump has not said whether the $14 billion Taiwan package will go ahead. Perdue told CNBC that arms-sale policy toward Taiwan is unchanged. The White House and the State Department, in The Guardian's account, said there is no plan and no lawful offer to sell US arms to China. These reports set no further meeting on that question.