Trump puts Taiwan arms sales on hold as US shifts toward China
Why it matters: The move signals a broader effort to stabilize ties with Beijing, unsettling US partners across Asia.
President Donald Trump said he was putting US arms sales to Taiwan “in abeyance” as part of a wider turn toward accommodation with China after meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing in June. The shift followed months of diplomacy in which both governments adopted the phrase “constructive strategic stability” to describe ties. The new approach marks a sharp break from Trump’s more confrontational first-term China policy and has raised concern from Taipei to Delhi and Manila. At a security forum in Singapore, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned about China’s military buildup but did not mention Taiwan, a notable omission. The policy change came after China’s retaliation in a 2025 trade war forced Trump to retreat.