Six Assurances

Chen added that this reflects a long-standing position repeatedly reaffirmed by the Trump administration.

Perdue had also reiterated Washington's commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances, the deputy spokesperson said.

The U.S. State Department also appeared to distance the administration from Perdue's remarks, according to the Associated Press.

The department said in a statement provided to US media that US law prohibits arms sales to China and that there was no offer or plan to sell arms to Beijing.

That introduces an unfamiliar wrinkle into a policy whose foundations have rested on keeping arms sales to Taiwan outside of Beijing's veto.

The 1982 Six Assurances offered by the Reagan administration to Taipei explicitly stated that Washington had not agreed to consult China before making decisions on arms sales to Taiwan.

This became one of the enduring pillars of the US policy towards democratic Taiwan.

For what it's worth, it can be credited with securing peace in this volatile part of the world still coveted by communists so many decades later.