After Trump-Xi Summit, FAPA Urges the Administration to Expedite Taiwan Arms Sales to Strengthen Credible Deterrence
The September 24 Trump-Xi summit produced limited concrete outcomes, while the pending US$14 billion Taiwan arms package remained on hold amid continued congressional pressure for the administration to move it forward. U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House for their second summit this year, with Taiwan as one of the key points of contention.
While U.S. officials reaffirmed following the summit that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, Xi urged the United States to “oppose Taiwan independence,” according to China’s official readout. Following the summit, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) rejected Xi’s remarks on Taiwan as part of Beijing’s usual tactic of “distorting facts” to unilaterally advance its positions and illegitimate claims, reiterating that Taiwan’s future can only be decided democratically by the people of Taiwan.
FAPA Condemns Beijing’s Escalating Coercion
On September 24, FAPA joined hundreds of advocates from the Taiwanese, Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Kong communities who gathered near the White House to protest Xi’s visit. Addressing the crowd, FAPA Executive Director Anny Chiao-Yun Hsiao stated: “We are here to ensure that Taiwan stays safe and free. [Xi Jinping,] keep your hands off Taiwan!”
As the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) gray-zone coercion expands beyond the Taiwan Strait and across the First Island Chain, continued U.S. arms sales are critical to Taiwan’s defense. A CommonWealth Magazine investigation analyzing 1.8 billion vessel-tracking records documented China Coast Guard operations extending east of Taiwan and throughout the First Island Chain, underscoring Beijing’s unilateral efforts to alter the status quo in the Western Pacific.
FAPA National President Dr. Su-Mei Kao emphasized the broader strategic stakes of Taiwan’s defense. “Credible deterrence along the First Island Chain is directly tied to critical U.S. security interests in the Indo-Pacific,” Dr. Kao said. “Strengthening Taiwan’s ability to defend itself is an indispensable investment in U.S. security and regional peace, helping to reduce the risk of a wider conflict that would require far greater American military resources.”
Congressional Support for Taiwan’s Self-Defense
Congressional support for Taiwan’s defense intensified around the summit. In the Senate, bipartisan Senate Taiwan Caucus Co-Chairs Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) urged the administration to immediately notify Congress and move forward with the US$14 billion arms package, stressing that Taiwan arms sales serve American interests and must never be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China.
In the House, Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Chair Young Kim (R-CA) and Ranking Member Ami Bera (D-CA) joined five other members in a bipartisan letter stressing that increasing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, including through additional arms sales, is “essential to U.S. security.” They urged the administration to make clear that, consistent with the Six Assurances, the United States will not consult with the PRC on arms sales to Taiwan.
Call for Action
FAPA urges Congress to pass the Six Assurances to Taiwan Act (S.3208 / H.R.3452) before the end of the 119th Congress, while calling on the Trump administration to move forward without further delay on the pending US$14 billion arms package and ensure the timely delivery of critical defense capabilities already approved for Taiwan.
“U.S. policy must reinforce Taiwan’s ability to defend itself and must never oppose Taiwan’s independence — not allow Beijing to dictate Taiwan’s defense needs or turn Taiwan’s security and independent sovereignty into leverage in U.S.-China negotiations,” FAPA President Dr. Kao emphasized.
“For more than four decades, the Six Assurances first articulated by the Reagan administration in 1982 have represented an enduring U.S. commitment to Taiwan,” Dr. Kao said. “Codifying them would enshrine those commitments in law and send a clear political signal not only to Taiwan, but also to U.S. allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific, that U.S. commitments to regional security remain durable across administrations.”
Sources:
[1] Reuters [2] Taipei Times [3] Focus Taiwan [4] Tibetankyi’s X account [5] CommonWealth Magazine [6] Office of Sen. Elissa Slotkin [7] Office of Rep. Young Kim [8] S.3208 / H.R.3452 (Six Assurances to Taiwan Act)
Taiwan’s UN Participation and Cross-Strait Stability Draw Broad International Support
Taiwan drew support from its diplomatic allies and major democratic partners during the 81st UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. During the General Debate on September 23 and 25, leaders of five of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Paraguay, Eswatini, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu — called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN system.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña called Taiwan’s exclusion a “stain” on the UN and warned of the global consequences of a cross-strait conflict. Eswatini’s King Mswati III urged the UN to allow Taiwan to participate in its meetings and activities. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. said excluding Taiwan’s 23 million people contradicts the UN Charter’s commitment to “We the peoples.”
Marshall Islands President Hilda C. Heine called for Taiwan’s participation and rejected Beijing’s use of UNGA Resolution 2758 to justify coercion. Tuvaluan Prime Minister Feleti Teo called for Taiwan’s meaningful participation and warned that China’s military activity around Taiwan threatens regional security and trade.
Taiwan has been unjustly excluded from the UN system and many other international organizations for more than five decades. Beijing maliciously conflates UNGA Resolution 2758 — which neither contains the word “Taiwan” nor determines Taiwan’s sovereign status — with its fictitious “One China principle” to falsely claim Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Taiwan’s Participation and Cross-Strait Stability in Focus
These expressions of support come at a consequential moment for Taiwan’s international participation, as Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and like-minded partners have used this year’s UNGA High-Level Week to highlight both Taiwan’s unjust exclusion from international organizations and the critical importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also issued a joint statement following their meeting in New York on September 21, supporting Taiwan’s meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations and, in an apparent reference to China, opposing unilateral attempts to change the cross-strait status quo.
A day later, representatives from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, and the United Kingdom similarly emphasized the importance of cross-strait peace and explicitly opposed unilateral changes to the status quo in a joint statement. The eight countries also stressed that security and prosperity in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are increasingly interconnected.
Implications
Taken together, calls for Taiwan’s UN participation challenge Beijing’s misuse of UNGA Resolution 2758, while broader support for cross-strait stability underscores the stakes for regional security, economic resilience, and global supply chains.
The U.S. and its partners should turn these statements into concrete support for Taiwan’s substantive participation across the UN system and other international organizations, while affirming the principle of self-determination — that only the people of Taiwan can decide Taiwan’s future.
Sources:
[1] Focus Taiwan [2] Focus Taiwan [3] Taipei Times [4] Taipei Times
