In 1982, the U.S. government under President Ronald Reagan was attempting to navigate a tense moment among the U.S., the people’s Republic of China, and the government of Taiwan. Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, with Reagan’s authorization, sent a set of statements detailing what the U.S. government had not agreed to in its negotiations with China, to American Institute of Taiwan Director James Lilley, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan. Eagleburger instructed Lilley communicate the statements to Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo. Those statements, delivered to President Chiang on July 14, 1982, are now known as the U.S. “Six Assurances” to Taiwan.

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Third on the list of the Six Assurances: “The United States would not consult with China in advance before making decisions about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, since 2017, Congress has passed ten laws with provisions referencing the Six Assurances, eight of them National Defense Authorization Acts. The other laws were the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 and the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020,

While the six assurances are not U.S. law or treaty, they are official statements of the U.S. government designed to provide guidance and clarity and reassure the Taiwanese.

President Trump, speaking with reporters Monday:

Q: President Xi and your talk with him recently, uh, uh, it warned about sending more weapons to Taiwan. What was your response then? Are you gonna send more weapons to Taiwan? Trump: Response, I have a response. I’m talking to him about it. We had a good conversation and uh, we’ll make a determination pretty soon. We have a very good relationship with President Xi. In fact, I’ll be going, I guess, in April.

Q: President Xi and your talk with him recently, uh, uh, it warned about sending more weapons to Taiwan. What was your response then? Are you gonna send more weapons to Taiwan?

Trump: Response, I have a response. I’m talking to him about it. We had a good conversation and uh, we’ll make a determination pretty soon. We have a very good relationship with President Xi. In fact, I’ll be going, I guess, in April.

The whole point of the Six Assurances is that the regime running the People’s Republic of China does not get to weigh in on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and the U.S. government does not check with the regime in Beijing to make sure that they’re okay with U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The only proper response from the president is that the government of the United States of America will sell arms whomever it pleases and that the regime in Beijing does not get a veto or consultation about it. The U.S. is not supposed to have conversations, good or otherwise, with general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party over its arms sales to allies.

© National Review