Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: The United States pauses an arms deal with Taiwan, Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Beijing, and a journalist is charged with acting as an unregistered Chinese agent.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: The United States pauses an arms deal with Taiwan, Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Beijing, and a journalist is charged with acting as an unregistered Chinese agent.

U.S. Halts Taiwan Arms Package

The United States is pausing a $14 billion arms deal with Taiwan, acting U.S. Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a Senate hearing last week. The package is the latest casualty of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to find a new equilibrium with China.

During his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, Trump called the package a “negotiating chip,” brushing aside the long-standing practice of not discussing such sales with Beijing. China, meanwhile, is reportedly holding up a proposed visit by U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby over the deal.

Delays in U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are common: The current backlog is nearly $30 billion, and China protests every package. But the weapons are only part of what matters. Steady bipartisan support reassures Taiwan and signals resolve to China. Trump’s casual treatment of the deal suggests that Taiwan’s future could be easily traded away to serve interests he deems more important.

At the same time, Trump has floated the idea of direct talks with Taiwan’s president, a gesture that previous administrations avoided. It is possible that the president was bloviating and did not understand the implications of such an offer, as when he echoed Xi’s language on Taiwan.

Other Trump administration officials........

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