Trump Team Scrambles to Backpedal on Slip About Arms Sale to China
newrepublic.com

... Selling weapons to China is suddenly off the table. It's unclear how it got on the table in the first place.

U.S. Ambassador David Perdue told Fox News Sunday that "President Trump continues to say: Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world," and that "he actually asked [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping] would he like to buy some at one point."

But hours later, the Trump administration aggressively attempted to cover its own tracks. Two U.S. officials denied any such plan while speaking with The Wall Street Journal.

One source told the daily that the White House had no intentions of selling weapons to Beijing, while the other acknowledged that it's already illegal to do so.

That ban circles back to Taiwan, which relies on U.S. weapons to deter Chinese encroachment. ...