Representative Greg Stanton (D-AZ) questioned United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz on selling arms to Taiwan in a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
Opening Question
Rep. Stanton began by commending Waltz for being "a major proponent of our relationship with Taiwan, from working to modernize the U.S. military foreign sales process while you were in Congress to working to advance Taiwan's standing at the UN."
"However, following his trip to Beijing in May, President Trump disclosed that he and Xi had 'talked the whole night' about Taiwan during their meeting in Beijing, and was pausing a major arms package for Taipei, calling it 'a very good bargaining chip.' Ambassador, you insisted in an interview with Fox News immediately following the President's trip that U.S. policy on Taiwan is 'going to be status quo going forward.' You cannot possibly be suggesting that using arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China is the status quo, are you?" Rep. Stanton continued.
Waltz's Response
Waltz clarified that what he and President Trump were saying was that "there is no change in policy; strategic ambiguity remains, and it is worth noting, to be clear, that President Trump, this term, has authorized more arms sales to Taiwan than the entire Biden Administration just last year."
Moreover, Waltz emphasized that "there is a multi-billion-dollar backlog from industry to actually get those arms off the production line, and President Trump is working, as is Secretary Hegseth, to reindustrialize and pull those supply chains back home."
Stanton on Taiwan
Stanton previously questioned Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security for the Department of State Thomas G. DiNanno on how the Iran conflict would affect arms sales to Taiwan in March, arguing that munitions being used against Iran left less for Taipei.
Similarly, Stanton criticized Trump for failing to tell Xi Jinping that they would sell to Taiwan as "a huge mistake" in May.
