British media the Financial Times reported on the 7th, citing sources, that the United States is planning a large-scale arms sale to Taiwan, providing Patriot missiles, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and other weapons. The Beijing side has privately warned that this move could impact US President Trump’s planned visit to China in April this year.
Insiders revealed that following last December’s record-breaking US$11.1 billion (RM43.861 billion) arms sale to Taiwan announced by the Trump administration, a new arms deal is now being planned, involving four weapons systems and possibly reaching a scale of US$20 billion (RM79.029 billion). However, the final amount has not yet been determined and may be closer to the scale of last December’s sale.
According to reports, Beijing has expressed serious concern over this arms sale, warning the US that it could jeopardize Trump's visit to China. However, some US officials believe Beijing's warning is simply bluff and will not lead to the cancellation of the visit. Insiders say the Trump administration intends to notify Congress of the above arms deal this month, but some experts believe it may delay action until after the visit concludes.