(Bloomberg) — The U.S. is preparing new arms sales to Taiwan that have unsettled Chinese officials to the point that President Donald Trump’s visit to China in April could be in jeopardy, the Financial Times reports.
The purchase is expected to be in addition to the $11 billion deal announced in December, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter that it did not identify. The arms would include Patriot and NASAMS missiles, as well as two other systems, the paper said.
Some people told the FT the price could be as high as $20 billion, while others said a final decision on the amount had not been made and could be significantly lower.
The Ministry of Defense referred questions about the FT report to the Foreign Office, which declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.
Trump, who has sought to ease differences with China over trade, rare earths, Taiwan and other issues, spoke with the country’s leader Xi Jinping earlier this week. Among the topics discussed was the April summit between the two men.
The arms purchase, which included missiles, drones and artillery systems, announced in December was one of Taiwan’s largest and drew swift criticism from Beijing.
During the call between the two leaders, which Trump described as “excellent,” Xi Jinping said the U.S. president must “handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with care,” according to a Chinese account of the conversation.
That was unusually specific language for Xi, who normally sticks to broad statements about Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
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