U.S. arms sales to Taiwan a complex issue, still under review: Rubio

Washington, Sept. 23 (CNA) United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated Wednesday that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan remained under review, saying the U.S. must balance such decisions against its own needs.

After four Republican senators raised concerns earlier in the day about stalled U.S. arms sales and other military assistance to Taiwan, Rubio said it was a multidimensional issue.

"People think … we view arms sales through the limited vacuum of one particular place. A lot of this also involves balancing our industrial capacity and our military industrial base," Rubio told reporters in New York.

"This is not about Taiwan in specific, but when we sell something, that means we don't have it anymore," he said.

Rubio said Washington's decision on arms sales to Taiwan was still under review.

"Anytime we do any sales - not to Taiwan, to anybody - it is always balanced against what are our own needs in different parts of the world and whether we can afford to sell something, because we may need it for ourselves. So that's going through that process," he said.

Rubio made the comments in response to reporters' questions on the issue after four Republican senators wrote to him and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday about Washington's obligation to assist with Taiwan's self-defense capabilities.

Senators Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Lisa Murkowski, and Thom Tillis expressed concerns about whether the State Department intended to fulfill its obligation to provide US$300 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan, and US$1 billion in funding for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative.

They also questioned Washington's decision to stall US$14 billion in foreign military sales to Taiwan.

"We are concerned by President Trump's description of Taiwan as 'a very good negotiating chip' in engagements with [China President] Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party," the four senators wrote.

"It is difficult to imagine how the United States might credibly project influence in the Indo-Pacific if the price of keeping up diplomatic appearances is denying our partners key deterrent capabilities," they added.

Meanwhile, when asked about the issue on Wednesday, a senior administration official told CNA that U.S. President Donald Trump had said earlier this year that he would decide "in a fairly short time regarding a new Taiwan arms package."

The official also said that last December, Trump had approved "the largest ever arms package for Taiwan" of US$11.1 billion.

"In his first term, President Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan than any other President in history," the unnamed official said in an email. "In his second term, President Trump approved more in his first year than all four years under President Biden."

Xi arrived in Washington on Wednesday for a summit with Trump, which is seen likely to include discussions on arms sales to Taiwan.

Under U.S. law, Washington is obligated to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.