A stalled $14 billion US weapons package for Taiwan will likely be approved eventually, which is good news for Taipei but leaves it waiting while Washington courts Beijing.

• Former AIT director Brent Christensen expects the pending $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan to clear sooner or later.
• The delay lines up with heavy US-China diplomacy: Trump and Xi met at the White House after an earlier Beijing summit, with two more meetings expected by year-end.
• Holding the sale back does not serve American interests, Christensen said, and approval matters as a visible sign the US still backs Taiwan's self-defense.
• Arms sales to Taiwan have been slowed by US-China diplomatic calendars before, so the pattern is familiar.
• Former AIT chair Laura Rosenberger argued US policy should aim at a strong, confident and prosperous Taiwan, which is about the partnership itself rather than about China.

Outlook: Approval is likely to keep slipping until the current round of Trump-Xi meetings is over.