Beijing is replaying a hole card that it thinks works beautifully. It says it will cancel the next Trump-Xi meeting, scheduled for this month in Washington DC, if the U.S. approves a new arms sale to the Republic of China (Kyodo News, September 12, 2026).
China has told the United States that it intends to cancel a planned meeting between their leaders later this month if Washington approves any new arms sales to Taiwan by then, multiple sources familiar with bilateral ties said Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump, apparently eager to showcase some diplomatic achievements ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections, places great importance on holding the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
While preparing for Xi’s upcoming trip, China has restated its position that the Taiwan issue is a “red line” in bilateral relations, according to the sources….
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress after Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979, the United States supplies Taiwan with arms to help it maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.
In December last year, the Trump administration announced an $11 billion package of arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever, which triggered an angry reaction from China.
The Trump administration approved the $11 billion arms sale but then put on hold a later congressionally approved sale to the ROC, for $14 billion in arms. Trump decided that this delay was a good idea during the months leading up to his meeting with Xi in May 2026 and then that it was still a good idea once the meeting was over.
As of now, September 14, 2026, and despite hopeful or disingenuous predictions to the contrary, the White House is still holding up this sale. Beijing’s tactic has been working because President Trump has been letting it work.
Also see:
Focus Taiwan: “Trump to send US$14 billion Taiwan arms package to Congress: McCaul” (August 4, 2026)
“U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to submit a US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan to Congress soon, senior Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said Tuesday, stressing that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan would not be affected by Washington’s ties with Beijing…. McCaul said he wanted to ‘make it very clear’ that U.S. policy does not allow diplomatic relations with China to ‘tie up arms sales to Taiwan.’ ”
Congress.gov: Taiwan Relations Act
