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The US is pausing a $14bn (\u00a310.4bn) arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has enough weapons for the Iran war, acting Navy secretary Hung Cao has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cao confirmed this at a Senate hearing, days after President Donald Trump appeared non-committal about the sale following his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office told reporters on Friday that they had not received any information about “US adjustments to the arms sale”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sale of US arms to Taiwan has long irked Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty,” Cao said at the hearing on Thursday, using the code name for the US-Israel joint military operation in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked what he had heard from the Taiwanese about a pause in the weapons sale, Cao said he had “not spoken to the Taiwanese”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The $14bn package has been waiting for Trump’s approval for months. It includes air defence missiles, such as Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3, and surface-to-air missile systems, according to a Reuters report in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has yet to confirm that he would give final approval to the package, telling Fox News last week that it was “a very good negotiating chip” with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also told reporters he would “make a determination over the next fairly short period” on the weapons sale to Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those comments came fresh off a presidential summit in Beijing, where Xi had told Trump that Taiwan was the most important issue between the US and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump later told reporters that he had discussed US arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail” with Xi – even though according to a 1982 US assurance to Taiwan, the US had pledged not to consult Beijing on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n