Taiwan’s US envoy says ties robust after Trump-Xi summit — SkimNews
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- Alexander Yui, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington, said on Oct 7 that US-Taiwan ties remain "robust" after the September Trump-Xi summit, stressing the need for "timely delivery" of US defense equipment to maintain credible deterrence.
- Donald Trump has withheld a US$14 billion arms package to Taipei to preserve warm relations and a fragile trade truce with Xi, after approving a separate US$11 billion arms package in December.
- Trump called the US$14 billion package a "very good negotiating chip" after his May meeting with Xi in Beijing; China has repeatedly called for the arms sales to end.
- Yui welcomed the recent arrival in Taiwan of the first two new F-16 fighter jets as a concrete example of steady US-Taiwan defense cooperation.
- Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, addressing the same event by video link, called Taiwan and the US "truly symbiotic" partners, citing cooperation on semiconductors, AI, and supply-chain security, and inaugurated a new Taipei representative office in Arizona.
- TSMC has invested tens of billions of dollars in Phoenix semiconductor facilities that received significant US subsidies, illustrating the economic interdependence Lin highlighted.
- US officials told Reuters in October that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan before 2028 is increasingly unlikely despite Xi's 2027 military-readiness instructions; Yui said Taiwan's preparedness targets no single date.
Why it matters: The envoy's public reassurance masks a real tension: a US$14 billion arms package — the bulk of pending US-Taiwan defense support — remains frozen as a Trump bargaining chip with Beijing, not a scheduling issue. For Taiwan, the practical question is when and whether that equipment arrives, since Yui himself flagged "timely delivery" as essential to credible deterrence against Xi's 2027 military-readiness timeline.
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