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WASHINGTON — <\/span>President Donald Trump<\/a> has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping if he wanted to buy weapons from the United States, the U.S. ambassador to China said.<\/p>\n David Perdue said Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on Fox News Channel’s \u201cFox News Sunday\u201d days after Trump hosted Xi<\/a> for a state visit in Washington, didn\u2019t specify when the offer was made.<\/p>\n Perdue said Sunday that Trump, a Republican, was downplaying longstanding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan \u2014 which have drawn protest from Beijing for years \u2014 by couching it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world \u2014 and even asking Xi if he\u2019d be in the market for U.S. weaponry.<\/p>\n Bream had cited concerns from Republican and Democratic lawmakers over delayed aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan<\/a>, the self-ruled democracy that seeks to defend itself from China\u2019s threat to invade the island. Bream asked if the U.S. is denying arms to Taiwan to appease the Chinese president, who visited Trump<\/a> last week. <\/p>\n Perdue pushed back on the suggestion, stating that Trump \u201cis as strong on Taiwan as I\u2019ve ever seen anybody\u201d and has sold it plenty of weapons. Perdue also said Trump and Xi continue to talk about future U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cBut President Trump continues to say, \u2018Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,\u2019\u201d Perdue said. \u201cHe actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. is bound by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. While not recognizing Taiwan as a country, the U.S. is the island\u2019s strongest informal backer and arms provider. But multiple U.S. leaders have left ambiguous whether they would commit military force to defend the U.S. ally should China invade.<\/p>\n China has pressed Washington to halt the arms sales<\/a>, most prominently during a previous summit in May between Trump and Xi in Beijing. After that meeting, the United States paused the sale of a record-breaking $14 billion package \u2014 and Trump described arms sales to Taiwan as a \u201cvery good negotiating chip\u201d<\/a> with China.<\/p>\n In their private talks at the White House last week, Xi pressed Trump<\/a> to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media.<\/p>\n In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun did not confirm Perdue’s remarks when asked about the matter on Monday. But he told reporters that China has always strengthened its national defense capabilities based on its needs and is committed to maintaining world peace and stability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n