Trump asked Xi if Beijing wanted US weapons: a joke, a gambit or something more?
Donald Trump asked President Xi Jinping whether Beijing wanted to buy American weapons, the US ambassador to China said on Sunday, prompting the State Department to quickly rule out any such deal with Washington’s principal strategic competitor. “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point,” the ambassador David Perdue said on Fox News after Xi’s state visit to the…
During President Trump's state visit to China, the US ambassador to Beijing, David Perdue, revealed that Trump had asked President Xi Jinping if Beijing would be interested in purchasing American weapons. Perdue made the disclosure on Fox News following Xi's visit to the White House. The ambassador did not specify when the question was raised, its purpose, or China's response.
A State Department official quickly clarified that US law prohibits arms sales to China, and there is no plan or offer to sell weapons to Beijing. The clarification came as the claim gained attention from Asia specialists, who noted the contrast between Trump reportedly considering arming Beijing and the administration's continued resistance to a roughly US$14 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
The restriction of military technology exports and strengthening of security partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region have been part of US policy towards China for decades. The remark by Perdue has left questions about whether Trump was serious, joking, or using a negotiating tactic.
Written by urgent.news from Reuters Business via SCMP's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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