ARMS-WEAPONS/CHINA/MILITARY/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is moving forward with an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, American officials said Friday [8-16-19]. The move is certain to further anger China at a time when a long-running trade war between Washington and Beijing has upended relations between the world’s two largest economies and contributed to stock market turmoil. The sale of 66 jets to Taiwan would be the largest or one of the largest single arms package transactions between the United States and the democratic, self-governing island. The State Department told Congress Thursday [8-15-19] night, right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had signed a memo approving the sale, officials said. Congress is not expected to object to the move. For weeks, lawmakers from both parties had accused the administration of delaying the sale to avoid jeopardizing trade negotiations or to use it as a bargaining chip. But trade talks in Shanghai at the end of July led nowhere, and President Trump said earlier this month that the United States would impose a 10 percent tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports on Sept. 1.”
–Edward Wong, “Trump Administration Approves F-16 Fighter Jet Sales to Taiwan,” The New York Times online, August 16, 2019