China blocks Pentagon official's Beijing visit over $14 billion US arms package for Taiwan: Report

Key points

• China is withholding approval for a planned visit by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's top policy official, until the Trump administration makes a final decision on a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, people familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times, raising fresh tensions at an already fragile moment in US-China relations.
• Colby's Beijing Visit: What We Know Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defence for policy, has been in discussions with Chinese officials about a summer visit to Beijing.
• However, China has signalled it cannot approve the trip until Washington resolves the question of the pending weapons package, which includes Patriot interceptor missiles and Nasams advanced surface-to-air missile systems, according to the FT report.
• Also Read | Xi Jinping is now the world leader he wanted to be, but it has come at a cost This is not the first time the arms package has disrupted diplomatic momentum.
• The...