China delays Pentagon policy chief’s visit to leverage $14 billion Taiwan arms deal

Beijing is delaying approval for a proposed visit by the Pentagon’s top policy official as it seeks to leverage the trip to pressure President Donald Trump over a looming $14 billion arms package for Taiwan.

Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, has discussed a summer visit to Beijing with Chinese officials, according to people familiar with the matter. However, China has signaled it cannot authorize the trip until Trump determines how to proceed with the weapons sale.

The Financial Times reported in February that the administration was preparing the package following the announcement of a record $11.1 billion arms sale in December. Beijing reacted to that announcement with anger, canceling a previous round of negotiations regarding a potential visit by Colby.

In an interview with Fox News last week, following a summit with President Xi Jinping, Trump stated he was holding the weapons “in abeyance,” adding that they served as a “very good bargaining chip.”

Trump subsequently declined to confirm whether he would ultimately approve the package, a move that has sparked concern in Taipei. While the administration had initially planned to notify Congress of the sale in February, it deferred the decision following criticism from Beijing.

On Wednesday, when questioned on the matter, Trump hinted at a possible conversation with Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te.

As president-elect in 2016, Trump spoke with then-President Tsai Ing-wen. However, no American president has spoken directly with a Taiwanese leader since Washington shifted diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

“I suspect Beijing will use any future visit by Bridge Colby or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as leverage to force the Trump administration to delay, divide, or downgrade a potential arms sale package to Taiwan,” said Zack Cooper, an Asia security expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

Hegseth became the first US defense secretary to visit China since 2018 when he accompanied Trump to Beijing last week. It marked the first time a Pentagon chief has joined a president on a diplomatic mission to China.

The Pentagon stated that officials do not comment on “potential travel.” However, a defense official told the Financial Times that the department is “committed to building upon President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s historic visit to Beijing.”

“Secretary Hegseth, Under Secretary Colby, and other key officials from the department are already in regular contact with their PRC counterparts and look forward to continuing this in a spirit of respect, realism, and candor,” the official said.

A person familiar with the situation noted that Colby intended to use the visit to Beijing to discuss a return trip for Hegseth.

“Colby’s visit to China would provide an opportunity for the US to convey concerns about China’s pressure and coercion against US partners and allies, its nuclear modernization, and its cyber and space activities,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund.

Glaser added that Colby could provide details on the US national defense strategy, which he helped author, while also discussing military applications of artificial intelligence and crisis communications.

Trump faces a strategic impasse as he weighs the $14 billion package, which includes Patriot interceptor missiles and Nasams, an advanced surface-to-air missile system. He must calculate the potential impact of the sale on Xi’s expected reciprocal state visit to Washington in September.

“The Chinese are well aware that President Trump will not end arms sales to Taiwan, but their ultimate goal is to delay the announcement of another major weapons package until after Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington in late September,” said Dennis Wilder, a former senior CIA specialist on China.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington stated it was “unaware” of the specific situation regarding Colby. However, it reiterated that China “firmly opposes US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region”