Allies say Xi has no shot at convincing Trump to change Taiwan policy

Despite President Donald Trump’s resistance to greenlighting another American arms sale to Taiwan before his highly anticipated trip to Beijing, he will not alter existing American policy regarding the island nation, according to senior administration officials and China policy experts.

A bipartisan group of senators urged the president earlier this week to sign off on the transfer of $14 billion in weapons to Taiwan, aid that has been delayed for months ahead of Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Headlines and private Washington chatter have suggested that Trump may seek to extend an olive branch to Beijing to gain Chinese assistance in ending the Iranian conflict, not to mention smoothing over the simmering trade war between the two nations.

Though Trump is leaving without rubberstamping the transfer, White House officials say that “there has been no change in U.S. policy with regards to Taiwan.”

John Ullyot, the former chief National Security