US ambassador: Trump asked Xi Jinping whether he wanted to buy American weapons

US Ambassador to China David Perdue revealed on Sunday that President Donald Trump personally asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping whether he wanted to buy American weapons during their meetings — an unprecedented detail of US-China diplomacy, according to the New York Post.

Perdue made the revelation on “Fox News Sunday”, where he quoted Trump’s words: “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.” The White House has not clarified whether the president was serious about the question or had used it to provoke his Chinese counterpart.

The revelation comes right after it became known that China has secured sensitive parts of the F-35 fighter jet, which had been sent to Hong Kong — a grave security scandal that has deepened tensions between the two powers.

During Xi’s three-day state visit to Washington last week, the two leaders also discussed American arms sales to Taiwan. The Trump administration had suspended an arms sale of about $14 billion to the island, amid trade negotiations with Beijing and pressure on American stockpiles caused by the wars in Iran and Ukraine. However, according to Perdue, Trump has already approved a package of $11 billion and talks on other sales are continuing: “President Trump’s already approved $11 billion. There are continuing conversations about other sales.”

The ambassador reiterated Washington’s position on Taiwan: “Our support for that has not changed. We don’t support independence and we don’t support coercion.”

In the same talks, Trump also pressed Xi over China’s support for Iran, receiving assurances that Beijing is reviewing its policy. “President Xi assured him that changes had been made… And we see some improvement in that,” Perdue said.