Top Democrats press Trump to approve arms sale to Taiwan ahead of Xi meeting

The top House Democrats on key national security committee pressed President Trump to approve the delayed $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan ahead of his visit to China and meeting with the country’s President Xi Jinping. 

“Delays of Congressionally approved arms sales to Taiwan undercut the maintenance of effective cross-Strait deterrence, and even the possibility of the PRC unduly influencing the United States’ Taiwan policy undermines the spirit of both the TRA and the Six Assurances.” the lawmakers wrote in a 2-page letter to the president on Tuesday, which was first shared with The Hill. 

The so-called Six Assurances is a set of six nonbinding U.S. policy assurances agreed to in 1982 during the Reagan administration. The second states that the U.S. will not consult China on arms sales to Taiwan.

The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna (Calif.), the ranking member on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Adam Smith (Wash.), the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee and Greg Meeks (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the........

© The Hill