Overview
- Leaders met in Beijing on May 13–15 and agreed to create bilateral trade and investment councils, begin talks on reciprocal tariff cuts reported near $30 billion per side, and announced commercial purchases including about 200 Boeing jets and increased U.S. farm exports.
- The White House has paused approval or delivery of a roughly $14 billion Taiwan weapons package, with U.S. officials citing depleted munitions from operations against Iran and President Trump calling arms sales a negotiating chip.
- Taipei expressed alarm at the pause while reporting stepped-up Chinese military patrols near the island and Taiwan officials reiterated plans to strengthen self‑defence and civil resilience.
- The summit left core strategic questions unresolved as the new trade boards are limited to non‑sensitive sectors and did not settle controls on advanced technology, rare earths or critical supply chains.
- A new IISS strategic assessment warns a Taiwan conflict could rapidly escalate, potentially to a nuclear level, and analysts say U.S. munitions diversion to the Middle East increases short‑term risks to regional deterrence.