Comments (34)

"If the US stops selling Taiwan weapons, that could tempt China into being even more of a bully towards Taiwan than it already is."

What does this mean? The EVIL chinese government is bullying Democratic Taiwan and it's ok? What WE want to achieve is merely keeping the bullying on the current level? I fail to figure out with which party the American government sides. Though, one thing is clear that is "bullying" the little island is totally acceptable.

The arms sale has long been viewed as a sign of downfalling Sino-American relatiopship. It's just briliant that this happened when the Chinese side would be desperate, if such a plan exists, to find a way to convince their people that their savings should be used to help bailing-out American companies.

To Evilmango: You are right. Vietnam thought if they can defeat USA in S Vietnam they can march into neighboring countries without problems. The problem is that even though USA lost Vietnam, USA cannot let Vietnam conquer the neighboring countries and could go back to Vietnam in a full scale all out war without limitation. China at that time is severely strained economically with the Korean war and internal problems and cannot further support Vietnam's venture in anticipation of a full scale USA involvement, most likely involving China on a large scale. China concluded that Vietnam is successful in Vietnam because it is in Vietnam and Vietnam could not be successful in the neighboring countries because they are not Vietnamese and the people there would not coorporate as in Vietnam. Therefore China warned Vietnam not to go ahead. Even though USSR supported Vietnam's venture, the support has to go through China. Since China refused, the USSR support fell through and Vietnam is furiously frustrated and turned against China, resulting in subsequent episode.

Thmak and Donald2:

Re This is off-topic, but briefly, invasion of Vietnam served the larger geo-political calculation from Deng XiaoPing at the time.
Vietnam was looking to do its own little empire, with the support of the Soviets. Deng finally could not wait any longer once it seems like Vietnamese army will overwhelm Cambodia and march to the Cambodian-Thai border, at which point, China risks threats from two fronts: Soviets to the north, and Vietnam to the south. He carefully alerted President Carter at that point of his intent of a "limited war" against vietnam to relieve the pressure on the Cambodians, as well as demonstrate to the Russians that China is calling the Russians on their bluffs to support Vietnam militarily.

It was one of the most daring raw geo-political calculations made in recent memory, given that both China and USSR are nuclear weapon states.

So Donald2, no, it wasn't a mistake. Far from it.

To Donald2; So the 84% Taiwanese actually came from mainland. So by default they are Chinese citizens, whether they like it or not,since Taiwan is not recognized as an independent country. Vietnam turned against China after China sacrificed tremendously to help Vietnam fighting USA. So China invaded Vietnam, with no attempt to occupy Vietnam, temporarely to vent her anger.

calm down. Selling Weapons to Taiwan is really good benefit for China. why? because most taiwanese in Army are still chinese, they can get well paid to share "some information" with Chinese Army intellengence. you know what I mean, right?

To Thmak:

You said: "It is unthinkable that 84% Taiwanese choose Ma and his party from the 14% mainlander to be their president and not anyone from the wholely Taiwanese pary. So that "84%" number is questionable."

The 84% is right. About 75% were from Fu Jian and the somewhat think ther are pureblooded Taiwanese. Another 10% or so were Khaka. That language may not considered Taiwanese by Fu Jian Taiwanese.

Whoever run for president have to have support from all groups. President is definitely supported by those who call themselves Taiwanese, as well as those who see themselves as Chinese.

I believe majority of people in Taiwan do not want to be citizens of PRC, but do not want to have a fight either. That's quite rational and reasonable. They have their priority.

So are Americans. US used China to counter USSR before. Now US wants to make money from China; and use Japan and India to counter China. In the cold war days, US never value India. Now US is offer India nuclear state status. We should not blams US either. Each country has its own priority. Except some priorities are smart, some are stupid. Only history will tell.

Chinese invasion of Vietnam was stupid; US invasion on Granada was a cake walk. Was it to restore democracy or geopolitical fight? Now, please tell me if the Russian invasion of Georgia is to restore peace or geopolitical fight?

to dump4peace: There are HongKongnese, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Sichuenese, Tibetans, Beijingnese, etc in China. There are more Beijingnese living in Beijing than Cantonese, etc. The previous Taiwan president Chen's ancester came from China. The most popular and widely spoken dialect, not the so-called Austronesian languages, spoken by the so-called 84% Taiwanese in Taiwan was originated from China. It is unthinkable that nine different Austronesian languages are spoken by 2% indigenous aborigins in Taiwan. Those Taiwanese go back to China to pay respect to their ancesters every year and not any other place. It is unthinkable that 84% Taiwanese choose Ma and his party from the 14% mainlander to be their president and not anyone from the wholely Taiwanese pary. So that "84%" number is questionable. USA approved the arm sale to Ma but not Chen because Chen is considered a trouble maker for USA. Ma opposed the arm sale because he consideded chen could cause trouble with those arms and Ma can use those arm to defend the disputed DiaoYuTai island with Japan. I hope you understand. Since the Chinese fought ferociously against European occupation, you must be kidding to say that the Taiwan aborigins peacefully submitted to be dictated by European occupiers while fighting ferociously against the Japanese and Chinese. I hope you understand.

If Alaska wants to be independent, does US object China selling arms to Alaska?

It tells China to invest more in weapons and OK to sell weapons to Iran and N. Korea.

That's why China does not want to bail out US banks. You gain some but lose some. It may hurt China more but it is the principle.

The more weapons Taiwan has, the more the Chinese suffer.

This is all about politic and country's self-interest.You could find numerous contradiction in the reality in U.S or other European countries.Whatever you guys use any classic theories to try to prove the legitimacy of whatever, they are all fail in face of the reality. Taiwan are controlled by its majority citizen-Han Chinese....this is the fact.

http://faculty.washington.edu/plape/pacificarchwin06/readings/Diamond%20nature%202000.pdf

“Taiwan’s Gift to the World” by Jared Diamond, UCLA, Nature, 17 February 2000.

"Prof. Jared Diamond of UCLA studied the giant Austronesian language family, which tells us much about the history of Pacific peoples and boatbuilding, as well as about Aboriginal Australia. Dr. R. Blust concluded that those 1,200 Austronesian languages fall into ten subgroups, of which nine (containing only 26 languages) are spoken ONLY by the NON-Chinese aborigines of the island of Taiwan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian

Genetic and archaeological studies of the human migration pattern in East Asia by many scholars also showed Taiwan's unique gift to the world in human history. Later, Taiwan was occupied peacefully by Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish sailors and then was forcefully occupied by retreating Chinese in various times and the Japanese. Today, 14% of the population in Taiwan are mainland Chinese; 84% are Taiwanese and 2% are indigenous. Most Chinese came with the retreating Nationalist army. Now everyone living in Taiwan is called a 'Taiwanese'. However, the group with the strength gets the control in Taiwan and the same applies to the rest of the world. If we continue digging, we all belong to Africa. Prof. Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” explains it in great details.

Now we are selling new weapons to Taiwan to help them defend themselves from China during a pro-China administration in Taiwan. This is very illogical. This 'Taiwanese' President Ma and his Nationalist party were strongly against the arms sale before he was elected, and now he hails the arms sales and everyone seems happy. I am dumbfounded.

To Zukung: The Alaskians were claimed to be their subject and their land to be their territory by the Europeans without any fight or treaty. Their sovereignty was bought and sold without their approval between USSR and USA. The once independent people of Ryukyu and their island was handed over by USA to Japan without their approval. Both has no historic attachment to the parties that traded them like commodities. There are people from China that settled in Taiwan as early as those Polynesians. If you claim that the original people has the sole right to be the ruler instead of the late comers, than the Alaskian, the native Americans, the original people in Australia and New Zealand must be in charge of those lands. I hope you understand. Your idea of geography is far off. The distance between the northern part of China and Japan, between the southern part of China and Philippine is much shorter than from Taiwan. By the way did the people of Guam agree to be the territory of USA in the first place? The claim of Alaska, Hawaii and Guam as US territory is even weaker.

To Thortonm and Huanzhou:
No ethnic emperors owning Taiwan might be correct. Recent DNA evaluations of Taiwan's population indicate that until about 1948, the population was largely Polynesian immigrants coming from the Pacific, the Philippines and Indonesia over the last 5000 years. Polynesian immigrants, although a majority until the arrival of two million KMT Han Chinese in the 1940s, has always been suppressed by various imperialist occupiers including the Wu Dynasty. At best, it was an 'autonomous region' independant of the Beijing emporers and only recently became strategically significant to the 'Peoples Republic'.
The mainland PLA understand exactly what occupation of Taiwan means: it allows complete military and political control of everything within a missile 'range' of 2500 kilometers. That includes Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Micronesia, the American territory of Guam and possibly Indonesia. Such a 'range' completes the defense of Beijing against humiliating occupation by foreigners such as Japan and Americans who used to be in the Philippines. But the PLA instituted territorial claim to the lands of a autononmous Polynesian people is weak.

To Arjay1: It is too simple to say "that nearly every action, military and paramilitary, carried out by America in the past hundred years has been in the defense of an evolving democracy and to prevent the establishment of a totalitarian one-party state with its inevitable mass murder of dissidents and other ethnic societies." There are hidden agenda behind all those grandiose claim and the huge economic and political benefits as the result of those so-called "defense" intervention. As you said, why USA did not go to war with those totalitarian colonial European countries to liberate the enslaved countries all over the world, but instead join and help them to maintain their military and economic interest? As we all know those so-caled christian preachers in the name of the all-mighty God proselytized the native Americans while said nothing about the genocide of the native Americans committeed by the USA government at that time. Even today, our President use the catch word of fighting terrorism to invade other countries and committed crimes against humanity. I hope you understand. You must know that USA has its own " dictatorship by a ruling elite" that led USA to war in the middle East. "Democracy" is not a holly word that any one can use it without limit to claim one's desire. Can the American Indian use it to claim back their American country? I hope you understand. You are so ignorant not to know that what you call the "advanced sovereign democracy" in Taiwan had created the most corrupt presidency in the history of Taiwan and rendered the government in Taiwan economically and politically unimportant around the world. I hope you understand.

There are many people around the world who maintain the neolib political dogma set and say that Americans will 'find some excuse' to carry out aggression against other countries. What they will not point out is that nearly every action, military and paramilitary, carried out by America in the past hundred years has been in the defense of an evolving democracy and to prevent the establishment of a totalitarian one-party state with its inevitable mass murder of dissidents and other ethnic societies. Could it possibly be that America's sale of weapons to Taiwan is simple support of sister democracy? Many seem to say that a dictatorship by a ruling elite is a legitimate form of government even though that form hasn't changed in 4000 years. Taiwan actually is in the 21st century and not bogged down with dogmas about 'western imperialism'. It probably should be defended simply because it exists as an advanced sovereign democracy. Its real peril lies in the fact that totalitarianists can not entertain the concept of a free people. For some, you can only be free if you submit to the control of 'socialist order'.

Don't worry: the 60 billion will keep the government afloat for a while.

President Ma's policy of engaging mainland is a smart one. For mainland China, Taiwan is a symbol of territorial integrity. As long as Taiwan maintain the status of the Republic of China and not legally separated from the great China, which include mainland and Taiwan, there is no need to stir up any trouble. Then, as long as China is making money, US military industry get their huge profit, status quo can be maintained.

A better idea will be for Taiwan to simply give some billions of dollars to US companies, then no arms even need to be shipped. In practical term, this is like the protection fee for street gangsters.

Many Americans are asking why Americans buy Chinese products so China can accumulate more money to advance its weapon system. The same question can be asked to Chinese: why China buy so much US treasure to finance its defence spending which targets China? This high level of US treasure bond ownership is quite dangerous for China:

China holds 500 billion US treasure bond and one trillion dollars of assets in US dollar domination (200 billion more to bail out Wall Street). One day US can simply find an execuse to start some trouble with China. Then, with that conflict, US can forfeit all US debt obligation to China. If you don't believe this, can any one use US foreigh policy record to give a reason why US won't do this?

To: Turtonm
“ Taiwanese by the thousand to possess an island no ethnic Chinese emperor ever owned”
I don’t know who was your history teacher about Taiwan so that you made the above statement.
As early as 3,000 yeas ago, the ancient Chinese people knew about Taiwan island, by that time Taiwan was names as “DAIYU”, roughly 2,200 years ago , from a book titled “Shanshu”, an article which described Chinese geography named Taiwan as “DAOYI”, being part of Chinese territory .The written history of Taiwan can be dated back to the year 230, by that time, the king of Wu kingdom of Three Kingdoms Period (222-265 A.D.) sent 10,000 soldiers to “YIZHOU” (Taiwan).Those people from mainland China started developing Taiwan using advanced knowledge. Around year 605 to 601, Emperor Suiyang sent three groups to Taiwan to comfort Taiwan people. By 12th century, Penhu was under jurisdiction of Jingjiang county , Fujian Province. Taiwan people used the copper coin made by Song Dynasty. By the middle period of 13th century, Yuan government set up Penhu Inspection Department , having jurisdiction over Taiwan. At 1624 and 1626, Dutch and Spanish invaded Taiwan, then Chinese General Zheng Chengong led a troop to drive the western invaders out of Taiwan, and set up government. At the year 1684, Qing Dynasty set up “ Taiwan Fu” ,under jurisdiction of Fujian Province. In the year 1885, Taiwan was officially set up as province and became No.22nd province of China, earlier than three provinces in Northeast China…
I won’t go on , I believe you already know the later history. If you don’t agree with my statement about Taiwan history, I welcome your evidence.

To Thortonm: Isn't it true that thousands upon thousands of Iraqis are being murdered by USA for USA internationally condemned invasion of Iraq? It is ignorant on your part that you don't know that Taiwan is internationally recognised as part of China. The Taiwan question never get approved for discussion in UN. If UK and USA say otherwise, it is because they are imperialist, colonialistic, goon and thug. I hope you understand.

To Thortonm: Both you and Pomfret are wrong. The war between China and its rebellious opposition KMT in Taiwan is in China only. It is contemptiously ridiculous for you to extend the event to cover the whole East Asia to generate fear.I hope you understand. It is ignorant on your part that Japan sea and air space is way outside China's sea and air space. Don't forget that the DiaoYuTai island (nick name Senkaku island) belongs to the Taiwan island chain once taken from China during the China-Japan war. USA illegallyand purposely turn over the island to Japan to seed the future conflict between China and Japan. A very heinous plot indeed. Taiwan welcome the USA arm sale so that Taiwan can use it to defend the DiaoYuTai island. I hope you understand.

First, Pomfret is completely right -- selling

Not only are weapons sales to Taiwan supported by both campaigns, but they are also widely supported in Taiwan, by both Taiwanese and by the expat community here in Taiwan where I live. Most of us were quite gratified to see Taiwan receive this sale -- it means that the Bush Administration's years of delays and obfuscations on Taiwan arms have at last come to an end, and we are not falling further and further behind China. It also means that the US remains committed to the island and its people.

.

"But what it doesn't get is almost as significant; the original package had included 60 Black Hawk helicopters, eight diesel-electric submarines and four Patriot air defense missile batteries. But no mention is made of them on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency."

Sir, I believe that you have confused yourself. First, the original package did not include Black Hawk helicopters - they were a subsequent request made in 2007. From what I hear discussions are still on-going. After all it would not make sense to think that Washington would approve attack helicopers like the Apache but not transport helos.

As for the "Patriot air defense missile batteries", that is what the "Patriot anti-missile missiles" are. If you check the specific notification, you will see a large array of launching and tracking equipment also listed.

The only significant omission are the submarines. This is probably down to either the US deciding that it cannot build or obtain them after all, or deciding that the decision should be made later on (perhaps with the Black Hawks) after the election.

stevenia,

It's funny that you criticize US policy for being crazy, but not China for wanting to murder Taiwanese by the thousand to possess an island no ethnic Chinese emperor ever owned. One of the oddities about the way the Taiwan situation is constructed is that although the problem exists only because of China's post-1940 drive to annex the island, nevertheless, in western publications, only the US and Taiwan come in for criticism. That is turning reality on its head....

The reality is that it is the Chinese who are crazy, and until they grow up, the US and Taiwan will have to following the crazy policy of placating China and protecting Taiwan. In a world where China did not struggle to annex Taiwan, there would be no problem, and no need for the US to sell weapons.

BTW, the US and UK did follow the same policy with respect to Taiwan: neither recognized it as part of China, and both declared that its status was unresolved. That is US policy to this day. In the 1960s it was a regular sight in the UN for the UK representative to stand up and remind the PRC observers that the status of Formosa remains unresolved....

Michael
View from Taiwan blog

Isn't there an American saying that says "fish or cut bait"? The policy of the US toward China has been flawed for decades and we still do not see how to extricate ourselves from the mess.

For full disclosure, I have the same problem: I don't want to see Taiwan separated from China nor do I want to see mainland China gobbled up Taiwan. But I am a single individual with emotional ties to China and have no impact on anything else.

Right after Truman's White Paper and Chiang Kaishek tugging his tail and ran to Taiwan, the US could have follow the lead of the Brits and recognized Communist China. If they did not want to or the politics would not allow them to do that but did wish to "sovle" the China problem, then they should have given Chiang Kaishek a green light to fight back during the Korea war. I don't think Chiang will succeed but then the problem with be solved.

After Jimmy Carter recognized mainland China, they could have stopped selling any arms to Taiwan but with a quiet, firm, and stern warning to the mainland regime that we will not tolerate any status change across the Taiwan strait by forcee, by either side, assuming that is what our government really decided. Instead, this bits and peices of arms sale, by itself no match for the military might of the mainland regime, is at best symbolic and serves no purpose other than generating sales for our defense contractors. At the same time, it is going to generate predictable reaction from the mainland. A kabuki dance indeed.

There is a Chinese saying that rather than skimming out the top of a pot of boiling water (so it will not boilover), one should pull the fire from under the stove instead. What the US has been doing since 1950 is keep skimming out the top of the boiling water for fifty years and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

What a crazy policy!

Hope U.S would like to sell more advanced weapon to Taiwan and then Senkaku Islands could be solved by Taiwanese themselves through a showdown with Japanese. Taiwan is facing the outer-space attack from China mainland,would U.S transfer much more advanced technology to Taiwan? Sure,but U.S does not.

Besides, Taiwan's economy is so knitted with China mainland and U.S should strategically give Taiwanese companies the chance to pull all their investment to U.S and prosper. Once at war,Taiwanese business would be immunized from the impact.

All in all,the real help for Taiwan needs U.S much more work to do instead of a billions weapon deal can solve. The arm race only drain out Taiwan's fiscal resource,which is heavily based on investment outside.

First, Pomfret is completely right -- selling weapons to Taiwan is a vitally necessary component of stability in East Asia. A weak Taiwan, especially one ruled by a pro-China party, the KMT, is a temptation to war in East Asia. Be aware that a Chinese attack on Taiwan will have to come through not only Taiwan's waters, but Japanese sea and air space as well. An invasion of Taiwan will be an international crisis, and will lead in turn to further crises once China turns its eyes to the Senkaku Islands, which are Japanese, but which it has coveted since 1968 for their control of oil resources in the seabed around them.

Not only are weapons sales to Taiwan supported by both campaigns, but they are also widely supported in Taiwan, by both Taiwanese and by the expat community here in Taiwan where I live. Most of us were quite gratified to see Taiwan receive this sale -- it means that the Bush Administration's years of delays and obfuscations on Taiwan arms have at last come to an end, and we are not falling further and further behind China. It also means that the US remains committed to the island and its people.

Michael Turton
View from Taiwan blog

The logic of Pomfret's article is so ignorantly distorted. The amount of arm sale to Taiwan is pale to that of the Chinese arsenal and Taiwan is no match for China in a military showdown. The USA sale is just a symbol to calm the US domestic critic and to help USA arm industry. Those out of date arms are of little military use. The original arm request was not approved because there is a USA greater fear of the loss of the weapons secret to the Chinese. The stability in east Asia is endangered by USA acting as a street thug and goon in the area.

Well Pomfret, you are the expert worths his salt, why can't you predict how China will react?

I am no expert, but I can tell you how China will react.
China will protest this arm sales vociferously.
That's right, she will follow through on this kabuki dance.

China won't attack Taiwan for a million years for the reasons JohnyCheng1 said above. Taiwan is China's golden goose in terms of investments and technology transfers, why invade?

But China will still protest to let others know that they can't mess in what China considers its internal affairs. Otherwise, what's next? "Humanitarian" aid to Tibet?

Paradoxically, I imagine Chinese protest will have President Ma in taiwan. It shows that he's willing to stand to China to ensure Taiwanese security. The Chinese protest will help to shut up the opposition DPP party.

This suggests nobody trade self-interest for "legit" causes of all forms.U.S is happy to see this progressing arm race stimulates much more purchase in the future.This government is deep in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy,but where the money go? In the military contractors' pocket! Should those military contractors buy more new issued bond? Morally,they should.

I think you will find there to be quite a difference between you oweing the bank a few trillion dollars and a nation oweing another a few trillion. If the bank want to get their money back, it has to follow the law, it can not come to your house and grab everything you have. There are no such laws on the international stage, when one nation want to collect the debt of another, it does not come to the country and take away your stuff, they force your currency to deperciate, so that one dollar will turn into one cent. China does not want to do this because its still making money off the interest US is paying, but make no mistake, China's economic nuclear stockpile is getting larger by the day, and the US's ability of mutually assured destruction is slowing dripping away.

The arms sale is meaningless, the US sold quite a lot of weapons to Georgia as well and the ones that survived now sits in Russian barracks as trophies. The US don't even dare defend a NATO ally whom they've gave direct miltary support, against a country that has far less abilility to cause complete chaos in America. If there was 10% chance the US will step in should conflict break out over Taiwan, there is 0.0001% now. If those weapons were ever going to see action, the action will be China parading them through Tiananmen.

Having said that, China has no appitite for a conflict over Taiwan, peaceful assimliation is one of the oldest Chinese stradgies practiced over thousands of years, and its working quite well with Ma in office.

The bottom line is, there is only one reason for the arms sale: to project the illusion that the United States still have some business in East Asia, an illusion both US and Chinese leadership knows perfectly to be just an illusion, but an important one for the sake of US standing in the rest of the world.

"Washington's backing of Taipei is one of the pillars of stability in East Asia."

Should this not rather read: "Washington's military backing of Taipei is one of the major causes of instability in East Asia"?

From the Chinese side, China Daily reports:

"China on Saturday denounced the US government's decision to sell arms worth of about US$6.5 billion to Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the Chinese government and people firmly opposed this action which seriously damaged China's interests and the Sino-US relations."

I don't think arm sale to Taiwan will make Taiwan safer. As long as Taiwan maintains the status que, The mainland China will not take Taiwan by force. The cross-strait situation has been greatly alleviated since President Ma won the Taiwan presidential election. The main obstacle of peaceful unification is not that Taiwan people denied to be Chinese, but the different core value as described by President Ma. I also understand that US government tried to balance their position between supporting Taiwan and keeping friendship with China, given that the arm-sale package is much smaller than expected by Taiwan .I wish this incident won't hurt Sino-US relationship too much.
I don't think arm sale to Taiwan will make Taiwan safer. As long as Taiwan maintain the status que, The mainland China will not take Taiwan by force. The cross-strait situation has been greatly
alleviated since President Ma won the Taiwan presidential election. The main obstacle of peaceful unification is not that Taiwan people denied to be Chinese, but the different core value as described by President Ma. I also understand that US government tried to balance their position between supporting Taiwan and keeping friendship with China, given that the arm-sale package is much smaller than expected by Taiwan .I wish this incident won't hurt Sino-US relationship too much.

I think it is not prudent to sell weapons to Taiwan when we need China on aborad for North Korean nuke, Iranian nuke, Sudan, Russia, and most importantly of all: financial crisis. The US has asked China constantly to do things that only close friend would do (with sacrifice) but never treated China as a friend (competitor at best). The people in power in the US seems oblivious to this: why China wants to sacrifice her good terms with Iran, Sudan, Russia, and other "rogue nations" in order to get kicked by the US in issues of Taiwan, Tibet, Falugang cult, and misguided "democratic dissidents?" Worse, China may believe the US is mainly aiming at Regime Change in China so he US can install a pro-West Yeltsin kind regime in China. There are hardly anyone in China listening to Voice of America, unlike 20 years ago!

Aside from making a few bucks for the defense industry, the arm selling to Taiwan is completely meaningless. China will not attack Taiwan in a million years, she has nothing to gain but a lot to loose. Unites States knows that. The resaon US is still keep on selling weapons to Taiwan is for two purposee:
1) to keep a status that we still have enfluence over that part of the world.
2) to keep Taiwan as a bargain chip on the negotiation table with China.
Frankly I don't think either of the above goals can be achieved by selling weagons to Taiwan.
-If China wants to take Taiwan, she would have taken it already. US does not have the stomach to stop it.
-China has lots more important things to do than take Taiwan by force.
For some reson the US foreign policy always fix upon its own point of review, never understand other countries internal situation.

Ahhhhh, money.
The US would (or, maybe, already has) sell it's soul for it.

To paraphrase John Paul Getty: If you owe the bank a hundred dollars, you’ve got a problem. If you owe the bank three trillion dollars, the bank’s got a problem.

Our lenders are trying to strike a delicate balance: they’d like the dollar’s predicament to seem dire enough to make us change, but not so dire as to spark panic. So be afraid. Just don’t be very afraid.