Chinese President Xi Jinping Expected To Press Donald Trump To Halt Taiwan Arms Sales At Washington Summit, Citing 1982 US-China Communique

Washington, September 22, 2026: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to press US President Donald Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan when the two leaders meet in Washington this week, with Beijing likely to invoke a 1982 joint communique between the two countries, according to sources familiar with discussions ahead of the summit.

China regards Taiwan, which it claims as its territory, as one of its most sensitive diplomatic issues and has repeatedly demanded an end to US arms sales to the island. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

The US, despite having no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, is required by law to provide the democratically governed island with the means to defend itself.

Beijing May Invoke 1982 Communique

Three sources familiar with US-China discussions said Beijing is likely to raise its interpretation of the third of three joint communiques signed by the two countries in 1982, Reuters reports.

Under the communique, Washington said it intended to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan and did not seek long-term weapons sales to Taipei.

However, an accompanying memorandum by then-US President Ronald Reagan said Washington’s willingness to reduce arms sales was “conditioned absolutely upon the continued commitment of China to the peaceful solution” of differences with Taiwan.

China has significantly increased its military activity around Taiwan over the past five years, including war games involving live missile tests. Chinese forces operate around the island almost daily.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing “resolutely opposes” US arms sales to Taiwan and described adherence to the three communiques and previous US commitments on Taiwan as a “necessary precondition” for the stable and healthy development of bilateral ties.

Xi is due to arrive in Washington on Wednesday, with formal talks scheduled for Thursday and a visit to the US National Archives on Friday.

$14 Billion Arms Package Remains On Hold

A White House official said Trump has indicated that he will decide on a new arms sales package for Taiwan in a fairly short time.

According to the official, Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan during his first term than any previous US president and, during the first year of his second term, approved more than President Joe Biden did during his four years in office.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring developments in high-level US-China exchanges while maintaining “robust communication” with Washington.

The sources said China has also asked the US to stop deliveries of weapons already ordered by Taiwan.

Xi could “emphasize to Trump that Taiwan is the provocateur and the sole source of instability in US-China relations, and that Taiwan is the one changing the status quo,” one source said.

In return, China is offering to help put pressure on Iran over the war in the Middle East, according to the sources.

Washington follows a “one China policy” under which it officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty. It acknowledges, but does not endorse, Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China.

The Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sales package for Taiwan in December, the largest ever. A second package worth about $14 billion has remained on hold for months.

Following a summit with Xi in Beijing in May, Trump said he was keeping the package in abeyance and described it as a “very good negotiating chip”.

US Assurances To Taiwan

Under the “Six Assurances” to Taiwan, also issued in 1982 and declassified in 2020, the US has not set a date for ending arms sales to the island and has not agreed to consult Beijing in advance over such sales.

Senior Republican figures in the US have voiced support for Taiwan ahead of the summit.

US Senator Pete Ricketts, Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said at an event at the Hudson Institute last week that Trump should take a firm position and make clear that US policy on Taiwan remained unchanged.

“We need to continue just to again let them know that they’re not going to be allowed to take Taiwan by force. That we are not changing our position on that. We’re continuing to support Taiwan,” he said.

John Moolenaar, Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, wrote to Trump on Friday that Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation involving Taiwan and US allies in Asia should be “rejected out of hand.”

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Xi Expected To Press Case On Taiwan

Matt Pottinger, deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first administration, said at a defence forum in Taipei on Saturday that he did not expect anything “substantive” on Taiwan from this week’s meetings.

“I would bet that Xi Jinping is going to lecture President Trump at length on Taiwan as he has in the last meetings and as he has with other presidents,” he said.

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