Trump calls Taiwan arms a 'negotiating chip' with China
The $14bn sale, already in limbo, risks emboldening Beijing as it seeks to isolate the self-ruled island. President Lai responded that Taiwan's 23 million people will decide their own future.
May 20th 2026 · Taiwan
President Trump has called a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan "a very good negotiating chip" with China during a Fox News interview following his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, raising doubts about U.S. commitment to defending the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory. The comment has alarmed analysts who warn it could embolden China to intensify pressure on Taiwan, which depends on American military supplies to counter a vastly larger Chinese military. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te responded by declaring that "Taiwan's future cannot be decided by foreign forces" and must be determined by the island's 23 million people. The arms sale has been in limbo following opposition from Xi, though the Trump administration previously approved an $11.1 billion package in December that prompted significant irritation from Beijing. Experts say China is unlikely to believe Trump could be persuaded to trade away Taiwan arms sales entirely. "What price can China pay that would get the U.S. to sell out Taiwan?" asked Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international-relations scholar. "There isn't any." Meanwhile, Chinese officials portrayed the Trump-Xi summit as a diplomatic win for Beijing, claiming both leaders reached consensus on resisting Taiwan independence. The uncertainty over Taiwan's defense comes amid broader concerns about global stability following the breakdown of post-Cold War order. During the Beijing summit, Xi cited the "Thucydides Trap" theory, popularized by Harvard's Graham Allison, warning against the historical danger of war between rising and declining powers. Scholars have also examined historical precedents for long peace, including a Foreign Affairs essay noting that East Asian nations maintained relative peace for nearly 300 years under a shared Confucian ideology centered on China. This long peace was ultimately undermined by Western imperialism, a parallel some draw to the challenges now facing the liberal rules-based order that the United States once guaranteed.