President Trump has described a potential multibillion-dollar weapons sale to Taiwan as a “negotiating chip” with China, raising new doubts about the pace and scale of American military support for the island democracy.

特朗普总统将一笔潜在的对台数十亿美元军售称为与中国的“谈判筹码”，令外界对美国向这一民主岛屿提供军事支持的速度和规模产生了新的疑虑。

Taiwan’s government has been waiting for months for Mr. Trump to sign off on a $14 billion package of missiles, anti-drone equipment and air-defense systems intended to fortify the island against Beijing’s military threats.

台湾政府数月来一直在等待特朗普批准一项价值140亿美元的军售方案，其中包括导弹、反无人机装备和防空系统，旨在强化台湾抵御北京军事威胁的能力。

Mr. Trump himself had pressured Taiwan to spend more on its own defense. Now he is using the very arms his administration had pushed the island to buy as leverage with China, the United States’ main adversary.

特朗普本人此前一直向台湾施压，要求它增加自身防务支出。现在，他却将自己政府力推台湾购买的武器用作与美国的主要对手中国谈判时的筹码。

Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One after leaving China on Friday that he had discussed the weapons package with China’s president, Xi Jinping, during their summit this past week in Beijing. He was asked in an interview with Fox News whether he would approve the Taiwan deal.

特朗普周五离开中国后在“空军一号”上告诉记者，他在于北京举行的峰会期间，曾与中国国家主席习近平讨论了这批武器计划。接受福克斯新闻采访时，他被问及是否会批准这项对台军售协议。

“No, I’m holding that in abeyance and it depends on China,” he said in the interview, which was recorded in Beijing but aired after he left. “It depends.”

“不，我暂时把这件事搁置起来，这取决于中国，”他在采访中说。采访是在北京录制的，但在他离开后才播出。“要看情况。”

“It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly,” he said. “It’s a lot of weapons.”

“坦率地说，这对我们来讲是一个非常好的谈判筹码，”他说。“这可是大批武器。”

He did not go into details about what he wanted in return, but Mr. Trump has pushed China to make major purchases of American airplanes, ethanol, soybeans, beef and sorghum.

他没有详细说明自己想要什么回报，但特朗普此前一直在推动中国大量采购美国的飞机、乙醇、大豆、牛肉和高粱。

His comments appear to undermine the assurances to Taiwan from some in his own administration that U.S. support for the island is steadfast and nonnegotiable. Before the summit, a bipartisan group of senators had urged against letting support for Taiwan become a bargaining chip with China.

他的言论似乎削弱了其政府内部一些官员此前向台湾作出的保证——即美国对台湾的支持是坚定且不可谈判的。峰会前，一个由两党参议员组成的团体曾敦促，不要让对台湾的支持变成与中国做交易的筹码。

“It looks increasingly likely that Trump will indefinitely withhold the $14 billion arms package to Taiwan, in the hopes that Beijing will give him what he wants on the economic front,” said Amanda Hsiao, a China director at Eurasia Group, a consulting firm.

“特朗普无限期扣押这个140亿美元对台军售计划的可能性越来越大，他希望以此换取北京在经济层面给予他想要的东西，”咨询公司欧亚集团中国事务主任萧嫣然说。

Raising the Pressure on China

加大对中国的施压

By saying his approval of the arms deal “depends on China,” Mr. Trump seemed to be suggesting that the ball now lay in its court. There was no immediate comment from Beijing on Mr. Trump’s remarks.

特朗普表示是否批准这笔军售“取决于中国”，这似乎暗示球现在踢到了北京那边。北京方面尚未立即对特朗普的言论作出回应。

On the first day of their talks in Beijing, Mr. Xi told Mr. Trump that the “Taiwan issue is the most critical issue in China-U.S. relations.” If the matter was mishandled, Mr. Xi warned, that could put “the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation.”

在北京会谈的第一天，习近平告诉特朗普，“台湾问题是中美关系中最重要的问题”。他警告，如果这个问题处理不当，可能“将整个中美关系推向十分危险的境地”。

Mr. Trump also seemed keen to show that he listened intently to Mr. Xi’s views, saying in the interview that after a long talk with the Chinese leader, “I think I know more about Taiwan right now than I know about almost any country.”

特朗普似乎也急于表现出自己认真听取了习近平的观点。他在采访中说，在与这位中国领导人长谈之后，“我想我现在对台湾的了解比对其他任何国家都多”。

But he also later raised the possibility that he might call Taiwan’s president, a step sure to enrage Beijing.

但他随后又提出可能致电台湾总统——此举势必激怒北京。

“I have to speak to the person that right now is — you know who he is — that’s running Taiwan,” he said, in a possible reference to the island’s president, Lai Ching-te.

“我必须和现在掌管台湾的那个人谈谈，你们都知道他是谁，”他说。这番话似乎是在指台湾总统赖清德。

Should Mr. Trump do so, he would be the first sitting American president known to have spoken to a Taiwanese leader since at least 1979, when the United States severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan as part of its recognition of the People’s Republic of China. China objects vehemently to any contact between senior U.S. and Taiwanese officials.

如果特朗普真的这样做，他将成为自1979年以来首位已知与台湾领导人通话的在任美国总统。1979年，美国与台湾断绝外交关系，转而承认中华人民共和国。中国一直强烈反对美台高层官员之间的任何接触。

Mr. Trump’s gambit could backfire, either by angering Beijing if he approves the arms sales, or by possibly prompting American lawmakers to step up pressure on him to increase support for Taiwan.

特朗普的这一策略可能适得其反：如果他批准军售，北京可能被激怒；而如果他继续拖延，也可能促使美国国会议员加大对他的压力，要求增加对台湾的支持。

If Mr. Xi wants to punish the Trump administration over Taiwan, analysts have said, China could hold back on orders of farm goods, or ramp up restrictions on exports of rare earths that are essential to many technology components. But Mr. Xi also agreed to make a state visit to the United States this year, and could use the prospect of more talks — and more deals — to influence Mr. Trump.

分析人士表示，如果中国领导人想要在台湾问题上惩罚特朗普政府，中国可以拖延农产品订单，或者加强对稀土出口的限制，稀土对许多科技零部件至关重要。但习近平也已同意今年对美国进行国事访问，他可以利用更多会谈和更多交易的前景为诱饵，来影响特朗普的决策。

A Blow to the Taiwan President’s Agenda

对台湾总统议程的打击

台湾总统赖清德（右）去年在台东某空军基地视察时，参观一架F-16战斗机驾驶舱。台湾政府数月来一直在等待特朗普批准一项价值140亿美元的军售方案。

Mr. Trump’s comments are likely to be seen as a setback for Mr. Lai of Taiwan, who had pushed strenuously for more military spending and purchases of American weapons.

特朗普的言论很可能被视为对台湾总统赖清德的打击，赖清德一直大力推动增加军事开支和购买美国武器。

When Taiwanese lawmakers finally voted for $25 billion in special funding to pay for the two weapons packages from the United States, lawmakers from Mr. Lai’s own party abstained from the vote because it left out spending for domestically made drones and other weapons.

此前，当台湾立法机构终于通过250亿美元特别预算，用于两笔美国武器采购方案时，赖清德自己党内的立法机构成员投了弃权票，因为该拨款未包含用于购买台湾自产无人机和其他武器的开支。

Taiwan’s government tried to quickly smooth over any tensions, saying that they have been assured multiple times by American officials that U.S. policy remains unchanged.

台湾政府随后迅速试图淡化紧张气氛，称美国官员已多次向其保证，美国政策并未改变。

“Our country is grateful for President Trump’s continued support for security in the Taiwan Strait since his first term,” Mr. Lai’s office said in a statement about Mr. Trump’s latest remarks. Countries near China “were cooperating with the United States to actively strengthen their defenses; Taiwan cannot and will not be an exception.”

台湾总统府发言人在关于特朗普最新言论的声明中表示：“我国感谢川普总统自第一任期以来，对台海安全的持续支持。”声明还称，中国周边国家“与美方合作，积极强化防卫，台湾不能也不会例外”。

Mr. Trump’s remarks would also “provide cheap ammunition” for Mr. Lai’s detractors in Taiwan, who say he is too beholden to Washington, said William Yang, a senior analyst in Taiwan for the International Crisis Group, which monitors and tries to help resolve conflicts.

国际危机组织在台湾的高级分析师杨皓炜表示，特朗普的言论还将为赖清德在台湾的批评者提供“现成的弹药”，这些人认为赖清德过于听命于华盛顿。国际危机组织是一家致力于监测和协助化解冲突的机构。

Some politicians from Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Nationalist Party, which favors stronger ties with China, quickly came out to say that Mr. Trump’s comments showed Mr. Lai had been gullible.

台湾主要反对党国民党的一些政治人物迅速发声，称特朗普的言论表明赖清德太天真。国民党主张加强与中国的联系。

Under Mr. Lai, Taiwan has sought to build a more nimble, mobile military with missiles and air-defense technology that can counter China’s expanding military, in large part by buying U.S. weapons. Mr. Trump already approved one $11 billion package last year, a move that Beijing responded to with military exercises near the island.

赖清德上台后，台湾一直试图打造一支更灵活、更机动的军队，通过导弹和防空系统来应对中国不断扩张的军力，这在很大程度上有赖于购买美国武器。特朗普去年已经批准了一项110亿美元军售方案，北京随后在台湾附近举行军事演习作为回应。

As for the $14 billion package, Mr. Trump would only say that he would “make a determination over the next fairly short period of time.”

至于这项140亿美元的军售计划，特朗普仅表示将“在不久的将来作出决定”。

In his interview with Fox, Mr. Trump also revived his longstanding accusation that Taiwan had gained its world-leading know-how in semiconductor production in underhanded ways, and therefore owes the United States. He also emphasized its vulnerability to attack from China, with the United States many thousands of miles away.

在接受福克斯新闻采访时，特朗普还重提了他长期以来的说法，指控台湾以不光彩的手段获得了世界领先的半导体生产技术，因此欠美国的。他还强调了台湾面对中国攻击的脆弱处境，以及美国远在数千英里之外的地理现实。

“They stole our chip industry,” Mr. Trump said of Taiwan. “Taiwan would be very smart to cool it a little bit. China would be very smart to cool it a little bit.”

“他们偷走了我们的芯片产业，”特朗普谈到台湾时说。“台湾稍微冷静一点会是很明智的事情，中国稍微冷静一点也会是非常明智的事情。”

Does Trump Believe Beijing?

特朗普相信北京的说法吗？

去年在台北举行的军事演习中展示的“爱国者”导弹系统。

Perhaps more worrisome for Taiwan’s government is that Mr. Trump’s account of his conversations with Mr. Xi suggested that he took onboard China’s argument that Taiwan bore a big part of the blame for the tensions. China has cast Mr. Lai and his officials as dangerous separatists who are trying to drag the United States into a bruising war.

特朗普对与习近平谈话内容的描述显示，他似乎接受了中国关于台湾应对紧张局势负有很大责任的说法。对于台湾政府来说，这也许更令人担忧。中国一直把赖清德及其手下描绘成危险的分裂主义者，认为他们正试图把美国拖入一场惨烈战争。

“Well, it’s a risky thing when you go independent, you know,” he said. “They’re going independent because they want to get into a war, and they want to, they figure they have the United States behind them.”

“嗯，搞独立是件很冒险的事，你知道的，”他说。“他们之所以要搞独立，是因为他们想卷入一场战争，而且他们想这么做，他们觉得背后有美国撑腰。”

“I’d like to see it stay the way it is,” he said, apparently referring to Taiwan’s so-called status quo, in which the island is functionally separate but not pursuing formal independence.

“我希望维持现状，”他说。这里显然是指台湾所谓的“现状”——即该岛事实上与中国分离，但并不寻取正式独立。

Taiwan, which has asserted that China is the aggressor, has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Most Taiwanese see themselves and their island democracy as distinct from China, and they have no desire to be brought under Beijing. Mr. Lai and his party reject Beijing’s claims over Taiwan and say the island is already in effect independent.

台湾从未被中国共产党统治过，台湾一直坚持中国才是挑衅一方。大多数台湾人视自身和该岛的民主政体为有别于中国的存在，他们不希望被纳入北京统治之下。赖清德及其所在政党拒绝北京对台湾的主权主张，并表示台湾事实上已经独立。

Mr. Trump’s comments “suggest that Xi’s presentation on Taiwan, which all but certainly framed Taiwan as the source of cross-strait tensions and a nonexistent Taiwanese push for independence as the key risk that needs to be managed, had an effect on Trump,” said David Sacks, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who studies China.

外交关系协会研究中国问题的学者石可为(David Sacks)表示，特朗普的言论“表明，习近平关于台湾问题的表述——即把台湾描绘成台海紧张局势的根源，并把子虚乌有的所谓台湾推动独立视为必须管控的核心风险——显然对特朗普产生了影响”。

Without criticizing Mr. Trump, Mr. Lai’s office said in a statement that “China’s escalating military threat is the sole destabilizing factor within the Indo-Pacific region, including the Taiwan Strait.”

台湾总统府在声明中未点名批评特朗普，但表示“中国持续升高的军事威胁，才是包括台海在内印太地区唯一的不安全因素”。