▲ U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing last May.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to demand that U.S. President Donald Trump halt arms sales to Taiwan during their summit, Reuters reported on the 22nd.
Citing multiple sources familiar with the summit preparations, Reuters reported that China is likely to raise its own interpretation of the August 17 Communique of 1982—the third joint communique between the U.S. and China—during the upcoming talks.
The August 17 Communique has consistently been cited by Beijing as the basis for its opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
In that communique, the United States stated that it did not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan would not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China, and that it intended to gradually reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan.
However, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan stated in a separate memorandum that the reduction of arms sales to Taiwan was conditioned on Beijing's continued commitment to a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question.
Consequently, while China interprets this as a U.S. promise to gradually reduce and ultimately resolve arms sales to Taiwan, the U.S. has maintained the stance that the reduction is contingent upon China's efforts toward a peaceful resolution.
Additionally, under the domestic Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. maintains the position of providing defensive arms to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.
Sources also reported that China is demanding not only an end to new arms sales but also a halt to the delivery of weapons already ordered by Taiwan.
One source said Xi is likely to emphasize to Trump the argument that Taiwan is a "provocateur, the sole source of instability in China-U.S. relations, and the party altering the status quo."
In exchange, sources stated, Beijing has signaled a willingness to help the U.S. by using its leverage over Iran regarding the Middle East conflict.
Reuters also reported that during his visit to the United States, President Xi may visit the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to directly address the issue of the 1982 communique.
Last December, the U.S. approved a massive arms sale to Taiwan valued at $11.1054 billion (approximately 16 trillion won), the largest scale ever.
At the time, China strongly protested the U.S. decision and subsequently conducted large-scale military drills around Taiwan.
During President Trump's visit to China last May, President Xi also emphasized that "maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the greatest common denominator for both China and the U.S.," adding that "the U.S. side must handle the Taiwan question with the utmost prudence and caution."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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