New Delhi, May 21 -- 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.

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 r...