Trump asked Xi if China wanted to buy US weapons, ambassador says
Another US official says the US had no plans to sell arms to China
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether he would like to buy US weapons, David Perdue, the US ambassador to China, said in a television interview on Sunday (Sep 27).
“President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,’” Perdue said on Fox News while discussing Xi’s Sep 23-25 state visit to Washington. “He actually asked President Xi would he like to buy some at one point.”
Perdue did not give further details and did not reveal Xi’s reply.
An admission that the US president offered to sell arms to China is extraordinary. The Communist-ruled nation is considered by most US policymakers and legislators of both parties to be the greatest military, economic and diplomatic rival of the United States – the only real challenger to America as a superpower.
When asked for comment, the White House said through a US official that the United States had no plans to sell arms to China. The State Department said in a statement that “US law prohibits arms sales to China, and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”
China has the world’s fastest-growing military, and for decades US officials across administrations, including in the current one, have warned of a potential military clash between the two nuclear-armed powers in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly over the island of Taiwan or China’s aggressive actions in territory claimed by US allies in the South and East China Seas.
Chinese defence companies, with the approval of the Chinese government, are supporting adversaries of the United States, including Iran and Russia, by selling them dual-use equipment and satellite imagery, as well as planning the secret export of weapons, according to US officials. The United States has imposed sanctions on some Chinese companies.
The United States has been the dominant military power in the Asia-Pacific region, but that strength is fading relative to China’s, especially as the Trump administration diverts resources from the region for use in its war against Iran.
In recent years, the US defence industry has also struggled to manufacture weapons systems at a rate considered sufficient for global needs by US officials. NYTIMES
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