WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a decision on a pending Taiwan arms package, the most consequential foreign policy test of his freshly concluded Beijing summit, as administration officials sought to demonstrate that improved US-China ties would not come at Taipei's expense.

Trump departed China on Saturday after two days of meetings with President Xi Jinping at the Temple of Heaven, publicly describing the visit as a 'huge success' and signalling a broad stabilisation in bilateral relations. But analysts and Taiwanese officials watched anxiously for what the summit's afterglow would mean for a substantial arms sale — including air defence systems and advanced munitions — that had been under White House review for weeks.

Senior administration officials briefed congressional leaders on Sunday morning, according to people familiar with the matter, describing a package that preserves core defensive capabilities for Taiwan while deferring certain offensive-range systems that Beijing had specifically objected to. The compromise reflects the administration's stated goal of steadying US-China relations without formally retreating from Washington's commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act.

Beijing's foreign ministry issued a measured statement calling on Washington to 'act with caution' on Taiwan-related matters, a notably restrained reaction compared with previous rounds of arms sale announcements, which have typically prompted the suspension of military-to-military talks. Analysts interpreted the muted tone as a signal that both governments had reached a tacit understanding during the summit.

Taiwan's presidential office said it had been consulted in advance and welcomed what it described as continued US commitment to the island's self-defence. Opposition lawmakers in Taipei nonetheless called for clarification on which systems had been deferred, warning that any perception of concession to Beijing could embolden future Chinese pressure campaigns. The announcement is expected to dominate diplomatic reporting across the Indo-Pacific through the coming week.