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State Dept. denies arms sale offer to China after report Trump floated idea to Xi

President Donald Trumps speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a state dinner at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI Sept. 28 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump offered to sell U.S. weapons to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to the U.S. ambassador to China. President Trump continues to say, 'Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.' He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told Fox News on Sunday, days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit that ran from Wednesday through Friday. It was not clear when Trump made the offer, nor how such an offer could be consummated. The United States has maintained a strict weapons embargo on China, imposed following Beijing's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. In contrast, the United States has for decades sold weapons to Taiwan, a self-governing democratic island, in order to help it defend from a potential invasion by China, which views Taiwan as a rogue state and has threatened to take back by force if necessary. The White House has delayed approval of a $14 billion arms sales package for the island, and four Republican senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio seeking an explanation for the holdup, saying the situation concerning Taiwan coupled with Trump's self-professed relationship with Xi leaves us with serious concerns about the strength of U.S. commitments to key partners and allies in Asia and across the globe. Perdue defended Trump on Fox News on Sunday, saying Trump is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody and claiming that he has sold more weapons to Taiwan than any other president since 1979. Then in rejecting suggestions that Trump was withholding the arms sales to Taiwan to appease Xi, Perdue said Trump had told the Chinese leader that Washington sells weapons to people around the world and had even offered to sell them to Xi. Asked about the comment, a State Department spokesperson said, U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China. The comments drew criticism from human rights advocates and foreign policy analysts. Benedict Rogers, co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, said online , If the Ambassador is telling the truth, then this is insane. Ryan Hass, a scholar on China for the Brookings Institution, said Trump's offer to China will be unsettling to American partners at the pointy edge of China's spear. If there was any ambiguity about whether President Trump views China as a security threat, this disclosure by [Perdue] puts the question to rest, he said online. This article originally appeared on United Press International at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/u-ambassador-china-trump-offered-080901711.html