US Acting Navy Secretary Reveals FMS Pause (Operation Epic Fury/Iran); China Blocks Colby Beijing Visit Over $14B Taiwan Arms; Taiwan: 'No Notification Received'; Cabinet Formally Rejects Trump 'Chip Theft' TSMC Claims

Multiple interlinked Taiwan Strait diplomatic developments converged on May 22, 2026. US Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao publicly confirmed a temporary pause on foreign military sales while prioritizing munitions for Operation Epic Fury (the ongoing US-Iran operation): 'We have done some foreign military sales to them. It's just right now we're doing a pause... [sales will resume] when necessary by Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rubio.' Taiwan's Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo immediately responded that Taiwan has 'not received any relevant information about the U.S. adjusting these military sales.' Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an stated Taiwan 'remains optimistic' and emphasized that arms sales should be discussed between the US and Taiwan — not Beijing — and confirmed no Lai-Trump phone call had been scheduled. The FMS pause confirmation adds a second layer of arms uncertainty atop Trump's post-summit 'in abeyance' framing of the $14 billion PAC-3/NASAMS package. Simultaneously, reporting from the Financial Times (confirmed by Taipei Times, Al Arabiya, and Daily Caller) revealed that Beijing has blocked a planned Beijing visit by Elbridge Colby (US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy), explicitly linking the visa denial to whether Trump approves the $14 billion Taiwan arms package. Former CIA official Dennis Wilder assessed that China is attempting to delay any arms decision until after Xi Jinping's planned late-September state visit to Washington. In a third parallel development, Taiwan's Cabinet formally rejected Trump's claim — made during his Beijing visit — that America 'lost' its semiconductor industry to Taiwan 'through theft.' Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee stated TSMC's sector is 'the result of long and painstaking independent development by local companies.' Secretary-General Xavier Chang declared: 'Taiwan did not steal chips from the world. It supplies them to the world.' Taiwan's US representative Alexander Yui appeared on Newsmax: 'They never ruled Taiwan and they never administered Taiwan' and 'We want to keep our way of life as is, and we will not budge.' Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng reiterated that US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged post-summit and criticized Beijing — not Washington — as the party seeking to alter the status quo.