Washington, May 16 — US President Donald Trump’s remark that arms sales to Taiwan are “a very good negotiating chip” in talks with China has unsettled Taipei and raised regional tensions, following his high-stakes visit to Beijing. In a Fox News interview with Bret Baier that aired after the trip, Trump said he was “holding [a USD 14 billion arms package] in abeyance” and that approval “depends on China,” calling the withheld weapons “a lot of weapons” and useful leverage. The comment suggested Washington’s long-standing role as Taiwan’s chief arms supplier could be conditioned on concessions from Beijing, a move critics say risks treating Taiwan as a bargaining chip rather than a security partner.
Under US law, Washington is obliged to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, and US officials typically frame arms sales as a deterrent to coercion. Analysts warn that linking those sales to bilateral negotiations with China plays into a worst-case scenario for Taipei. William Yang, a Northeast Asia senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said such conditionality could turn Taiwan from a party at the negotiating table into an item “on the menu” if Beijing is offered leverage.
Trump did not specify what he would seek from Beijing in exchange for withholding arms, but he has pushed China to increase purchases of American goods and to exert pressure on Iran. Lawmakers and the White House previously approved a separate USD 11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December; Beijing responded to that move by staging live-fire drills around the island, underscoring how weapons sales can provoke sharp Chinese reactions.
China has framed Taiwan as “the most important issue in China-US relations” during President Xi Jinping’s recent summit with Trump, and Xi warned of “clashes and even conflicts” if the issue is mishandled. Taipei’s presidential office sought to calm nerves by saying US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged. Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo affirmed that “the Republic of China is a sovereign, independent, democratic country; this is self-evident, and Beijing’s claims are therefore without merit,” while thanking Trump for his support and stressing that US arms sales to Taiwan are governed by law.
Trump also urged Taiwan’s dominant microchip industry to relocate production to the United States, telling Fox News: “I’d like to see everybody making chips over in Taiwan come into America.” Taiwan’s firms produce the bulk of the world’s most advanced semiconductors used in AI, smartphones and military systems; the source material notes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has committed USD 165 billion to a mega-campus in Arizona, and Taipei earlier pledged USD 250 billion in investment in the US microchip sector as part of a trade agreement.
Observers say some of Trump’s language echoed Beijing’s narrative about Taipei’s leadership. While he did not change official US policy wording on Taiwan, Trump said he did not want “a change of status quo” and suggested Taiwan’s current leaders “want to go independent,” adding, “They’re going independent because they want to get into a war and they figure they have the United States behind them.” Hours after those comments, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that the island “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China,” and repeated that US arms sales form part of Washington’s security commitment to Taipei. (Agencies)
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/05/17/trumps-taiwan-negotiating-chip-remark-sparks-alarm/
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Publish Date: 2026-05-17 05:52:00
