Summit meeting: Trump is said to have offered Xi the purchase of US weapons
At the summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi, apparently not only tariffs were discussed. Possible arms deliveries are also said to have been talked about.
President Donald Trump reportedly inquired to Chinese President Xi Jinping if he had any interest in purchasing American weapons, according to US Ambassador to China David Perdue. During a conference call on Sunday (local time), Perdue stated that Trump had mentioned the US was selling weapons to countries worldwide in the context of planned arms deliveries to Taiwan.
"He actually asked President Xi if he would ever want to buy any," Perdue added. Perdue also dismissed the speculation that Trump held back weapons deliveries to Taiwan to appease China. Trump expressed "determination like almost nobody I have ever seen" vis-à-vis Taiwan, Perdue said. Trump and Xi continued discussions on future US weapons deliveries to Taiwan.
Legally obligated to provide Taiwan with self-defense resources, the US has repeatedly been asked by China to cease such deliveries. Following a meeting between Trump and Xi in May, Washington initially withheld a $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan. At the time, Trump framed weapons deliveries to Taiwan as "very good leverage" against China.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
