U.S. will not tolerate change in Taiwan status by force: Senator Ricketts

Washington, Sept. 15 (CNA) U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts said Tuesday that the United States will not tolerate any attempt to change the status of Taiwan by force, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's (習近平) scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 24.

Asked whether Taiwan would be discussed during the meeting, Ricketts told reporters that Trump should address the issue within the context of the U.S. position, which has not changed.

"We are not going to tolerate a change in the status of Taiwan by force," said the Republican senator, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

Speaking to reporters after a talk at the Hudson Institute think tank on competition with China, Ricketts noted that Trump had approved a US$11 billion arms package for Taiwan in December 2025, the largest to date.

When asked about a proposed US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan that has not yet been approved by the Trump administration, Ricketts said the immediate priority should be delivering weapons already promised to Taiwan.

"That's the best thing we can do for the Taiwanese," Ricketts said, adding that the U.S. was about US$30 billion behind in arms deliveries.

He also said Taiwan should continue strengthening its deterrence capability against China, including through increased defense investment and efforts to reform the reserve system.

During his talk at the Hudson Institute, Ricketts said the U.S. should avoid being "held hostage" by supply chains dependent on China, particularly for critical minerals and pharmaceutical precursors.

The goal is to avoid war, he said, arguing that a conflict between the U.S. and China would be harmful to both countries and the rest of the world.

Trump's diplomacy with Xi is therefore useful in keeping the lines of communication open, Ricketts said, referencing the upcoming meeting between the American and Chinese presidents at the White House on Sept. 24.

However, Trump should more aggressively hold China accountable for agreements it has made, Ricketts said, citing a bilateral agricultural trade agreement that he said Beijing backed away from after Trump's first term in office.

Despite doubts about whether China could be trusted, the U.S. should "absolutely" maintain dialogue with Beijing on artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand China's position and ambitions in the field, Ricketts said.

AI is an area in which Xi believes China can surpass the U.S., despite Washington's military superiority, the senator said.

The U.S. should therefore approach AI policy carefully, including by establishing guardrails for deepfakes without stifling the innovation that has kept the country at the forefront of the field, Ricketts said.