Taiwan’s top representative to the United States on Sunday defended the island’s self-defence strategy, pushing back against Chinese narratives and expressing confidence in American security commitments following US President Donald Trump’s high-stakes summit in Beijing.
Appearing on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Ambassador Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the US, reacted directly to statements from President Trump indicating that Washington might temporarily withhold a major, newly requested arms package to use as leverage in negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
While Trump confirmed to reporters that he discussed arms sales in “great detail” with Xi, a move that challenges decades-old US diplomatic protocol, Yui maintained that an ongoing flow of defensive weapons remains vital to preventing conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
“If we want to prevent a war from happening, I think it’s best that Taiwan is strong, able to defend itself, and therefore we should be able to acquire, to buy the arms that we need to have a stronger defence,” Yui told CBS News moderator Margaret Brennan.
“We also abide, we believe in peace through strength, so actually it makes more sense for the United States to sell us the arms, so we can defend ourselves, and so you don’t have to send your army 9,500 miles away to defend us.”
Conversely, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday that Taiwan will never be “traded away” as he pressed the US not to halt the sale of weapons to the island, citing it is vital for the island’s democracy.
Dispelling Beijing’s Narrative
The diplomatic fallout follows US President Trump’s two-day visit to Beijing, where he noted he had “heard a lot about Taiwan” from Chinese officials.
In response, Yui cautioned that Trump had only been exposed to a heavily one-sided account of cross-strait relations, describing the Chinese Communist Party’s rhetoric as an el cuento chino, a Spanish idiom translating to a “Chinese story” or a tall tale.
“The problem is he heard only their side of the story,” Yui said, emphasising that Taiwan is eager to share its own history of resilience against 77 years of Chinese aggression dating back to 1949.
“This is not a recent thing, as if we are the ones creating problems. It is the People’s Republic of China, creating all these problems.”
Addressing Trump’s recent remarks to Fox News that both Beijing and Taipei need to “cool it” and that Washington is not looking to back a formal declaration of independence, Yui clarified Taipei’s stance on sovereignty.
He noted that Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s definition of independence simply reflects the reality that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is already a sovereign state.
“We are sovereign, independent away from the Chinese People’s Republic of China’s attempt to swallow us as one of their own,” Yui stated, adding that Beijing has “never ruled or controlled Taiwan, ever.”
Are Arms A Diplomatic Leverage?
The primary point of friction stems from US President Trump’s confirmation that he is holding onto Taiwan’s latest defence procurement requests to utilise them as a tactical “negotiating chip” with China.
In an audio broadcast by CBS, Trump dismissed concerns that discussing the arms package with Xi violated historic agreements.
“So, what am I going to do? Say I don’t want to talk to you about it, because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982? No, we discussed arms sales,” Trump told reporters, promising that he would be “making decisions” on the matter soon.
The admission marks a stark departure from the “Six Assurances” established during the Reagan administration in 1982, which explicitly pledged that the United States would not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, nor hold prior consultations with Beijing regarding those sales.
When pressed on whether Trump’s actions violated these longstanding US commitments, Yui pointed out that Trump “did not agree on anything that the Chinese side” requested. He expressed confidence in the institutional consistency of US foreign policy, highlighting that the Trump administration has previously approved significant defence packages, including F-16 Block 70 fighter jets and two substantial arms sales last year.
‘China is Intruder’
Using a vivid security analogy to describe Taiwan’s current geopolitical dilemma, Yui rejected accusations that Taipei’s efforts to modernise its military are provocative.
“Our house, those are intruders trying to get into our house, we’re trying to beef up our security system,” Yui explained during the broadcast.
“And then they complain, the intruder complains that because we’re trying to improve our security system, it’s making his job harder.”
While a potential direct phone call between US President Trump and President Lai remains unconfirmed, Yui noted that communication between Washington and Taipei remains “constant” and “current.” Taiwan continues to emphasise that preserving the status quo through robust deterrence is the only viable path to maintaining regional peace and preventing a costly conflict.
Trump Pauses $14 Billion Taiwan Arms Deal to Leverage Beijing
US President Trump, following his visit to Beijing, froze a massive $14 billion arms package previously earmarked for Taiwan, intending to utilise the military hardware as a strategic bargaining chip in broader negotiations with China.
Trump also issued a stern warning to Taipei against pursuing formal independence from Beijing. The administration’s transactional approach to cross-strait relations worried US lawmakers as it signalled a potential departure from traditional, long-standing US security guarantees.
The tactical delay is being seen as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to force both Beijing and Taipei to the negotiating table. By treating advanced weaponry as diplomatic currency, Trump may be aiming to extract trade or geopolitical concessions from Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the analysts. However, the high-stakes freeze has triggered widespread concern as officials in the US warn that stalling the delivery of critical defensive systems could inadvertently weaken Taiwan’s regional deterrence and disrupt the fragile status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
