Taiwan says it has not heard new US arms sales will be carved

Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Tuesday he had not heard that the US was planning on carving up a potential $14 billion arms sale into smaller chunks, but added that Washington's commitments to Taipei's defences had not changed.



US President Donald Trump has held back approval of the new package of arms sales to Taipei in order to maintain warm relations and a fragile trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In December, Trump approved an $11 billion package.



In May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, Trump said he was holding up a second package and described it as a "very good negotiating chip."



China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly called for the arms sales to end.



Officials in Taipei previously said Washington could carve up the arms sales into smaller chunks in an effort to avoid upsetting Beijing too much.



Speaking in parliament, Koo said the US has repeatedly reaffirmed that its commitment to helping Taiwan strengthen its self-defence capabilities has not changed.