MOFA mum on whether Trump arms sales remarks break Six Assurances

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Tuesday declined to directly answer questions about whether U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks about discussing arms sales to Taiwan with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) would violate a longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing from Wednesday to Friday for a summit with Xi. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he would discuss arms sales to Taiwan when asked about Washington's longstanding support for Taiwan's defense.

"President Xi would like us not to, and I'll have that discussion. That's one of the many things I'll be talking about," Trump said.

Asked whether Trump's remarks could constitute a violation of the U.S. Six Assurances to Taiwan -- issued by former President Ronald Reagan's administration in 1982, including a pledge not to consult Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan -- MOFA spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) did not give a direct answer.

Instead, Hsiao told reporters at a press briefing in Taipei that Taiwan was closely monitoring the high-level meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders and maintaining close communication with Washington on the matter.

Hsiao also said that since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, his administration has repeatedly reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan's self-defense capabilities amid rising threats from China, including through a record US$11.1 billion arms package approved in December last year.

The spokesperson added that Beijing has consistently opposed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and has repeatedly urged Washington to halt such sales during bilateral meetings, hinting that Xi's request is nothing new.

The Six Assurances were issued to Taiwan by the Reagan administration following the 1982 United States-China Joint Communiqué on Arms Sales to Taiwan.

According to declassified U.S. documents, the assurances stated that Washington would not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, consult Beijing on such sales, mediate between Taipei and Beijing, revise the Taiwan Relations Act, alter its position regarding Taiwan's sovereignty, or pressure Taipei into negotiations with China.

This was not the first time Trump had said he might discuss arms sales to Taiwan with Xi. He made similar remarks in February in response to a question about Xi's objections to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Previously asked whether Trump's remarks signaled a departure from Washington's commitment to the Six Assurances, Stanley L. Brown, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, and Michael P. Duffey, U.S. under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, both said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in March that they were unaware of any change within the U.S. government to the policy.