Taiwan said Friday it has not been notified of any pause in a planned $14 billion U.S. arms sale, even as Washington openly admitted it is slowing foreign military sales to keep enough munitions for the Iran war. The island’s presidential spokesperson, Karen Kuo, said Taiwan had seen the reports but that “currently there is no information regarding any adjustments the U.S. will make to this arms sale.”
Who Holds the Levers
The decision-making power sits far from the people who would live with the consequences. Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao told the U.S. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on Thursday that some foreign military sales were being delayed so the American military could stockpile what it needs for “Epic Fury,” the Trump administration’s name for the Iran operation. Cao said, “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for ‘Epic Fury.’” He added, “Then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.”
That is the machinery of empire in plain language: weapons for one war get priority, and everyone else waits for the schedule set by the administration. Taiwan, meanwhile, is left reading reports and hoping the people at the top decide to keep the pipeline open.
Who Pays for the Delay
The hierarchy cost lands on Taiwan, where the island’s authorities are left without clarity on whether the U.S. will alter the deal. Kuo said Taiwan had seen the reports, but there was still no information about any adjustment to the sale. The article said the U.S. had days earlier seen President Donald Trump raise doubts about continuing arms sales to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
Trump’s Republican administration authorized an $11 billion weapons package for Taipei in December, less than one year ago, but it has yet to move forward. American lawmakers also approved a separate $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan in January, less than one year ago, though the deal cannot proceed until Trump formally submits it to U.S. Congress. The whole arrangement shows how even massive weapons transfers move through layers of state approval, delay, and political bargaining before any hardware changes hands.
Negotiating Chips and Manufactured Security
In an interview with Fox News on his way back to the United States from last week’s trip to Beijing, Trump said that arms sales to Taiwan are “a very good negotiating chip” in Washington’s dealings with China. That is the language of statecraft stripped bare: people’s security reduced to leverage in a great-power bargaining session.
On Wednesday, marking his two years in office, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that if given the chance, he would tell Trump to continue U.S. arms purchases, which Lai called essential for peace. The article gives no sign of any direct public answer from Trump, only more waiting for the next move from above.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be brought under its control by force if necessary. The U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as a country, but Washington remains the island’s strongest backer and arms supplier. Those facts frame the entire arrangement: rival states, military buildup, and ordinary people caught beneath the machinery.
When asked about Cao’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that “China’s opposition to the U.S. arms sale to China’s Taiwan region is consistent, clear-cut and resolute.” Last week, during Trump’s visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned him that the “Taiwan question” is the most important issue in U.S.-China relations and that the two nations could “have clashes and even conflicts,” if the issue isn’t handled properly.
Trump later told reporters that he needed to talk to the person who is running Taiwan, without naming Lai, who Beijing deems a separatist. Kuo said Friday there was no more information about a potential conversation between Lai and Trump. For now, the island waits while presidents, secretaries, lawmakers, and foreign ministries trade threats, delays, and weapons orders across the Pacific.