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The measure from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Chris Coons, D-Del., reaffirms congressional support for the Taiwan Relations Act, which allows US defensive weapons sales, and existing US policy on Taiwan.
Current US policy, the resolution notes, “includes support for Taiwan’s self-defense and opposition to efforts to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means.”
It also says that the US did not agree to “prior consultation” with China — which claims Taiwan as its own territory — on arms sales to the island. Trump has described the stalled weapons package, which Congress approved in January, as a “negotiating chip with China”; while the resolution does not explicitly mention the president or the pause, its broader implications are clear.
Chinese state media has already portrayed Trump’s comments about the paused sale as a sign that US support for Taiwan may be faltering.
“America’s support for Taiwan is non-negotiable,” Shaheen said in a statement, accusing Trump of failing to “defend US obligations to help provide for Taiwan’s defense, dangerously undermining deterrence against Chinese aggression” during his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week.
Tillis said the US “must continue to stand firmly alongside the Taiwanese people and reaffirm our commitment to Taiwan’s security and right to self-determination free from coercion or intimidation.”
A White House official told Semafor on Thursday that Trump would decide on a new Taiwan arms package “in a fairly short time,” and noted that he approved the $11 billion package in December.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told Congress on Thursday, however, that the package had been paused to ensure the US has sufficient weapons for the Iran war.
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