An official with US president-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Saturday said that neither Trump nor transition officials would be meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who stopped in the US on her way to Central America.
Still, Tsai’s trip will be scrutinized by Beijing for any signs that Trump’s team plans to risk its ire by further engaging with Taiwan.
Tsai, who departed Taipei on Saturday, pledged to bolster Taiwan’s international profile as she set off on a trip to reinforce relations with diplomatic allies in Central America, a task that has taken on new urgency as Beijing ramps up efforts to diplomatically isolate Taipei.
Speaking to reporters before her departure, Tsai said the visits to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador would “show the international society that Taiwan is a capable and responsible partner for cooperation.”
She transited through Houston, Texas, a stop that will irk Beijing, which has urged Washington to prevent Tsai from landing in the US to “refrain from sending any wrong signal to the Taiwanese independence forces.”
Beijing complained after Trump last month breached diplomatic protocol by speaking by telephone with Tsai. Trump raised further concerns in Beijing when he questioned the US’ “one China” policy.
US lawmakers often meet with Taiwanese presidents when they transit through the US — most recently in June, when Tsai met in Miami with US Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
Trump transition team spokeswoman Jessica Ditto on Saturday said in an e-mail that neither the president-elect nor members of his transition team would be meeting with Tsai while she is in the US.
Trump sounded unaware of the potential trip when he was asked about it on New Year’s Eve.
“Nobody’s ever mentioned that to me,” he told reporters. “I’m not meeting with anybody until after Jan. 20, because it’s a little bit inappropriate from a protocol standpoint. But we’ll see.”
Tsai is likely to keep the US stops low-key to avoid further inflaming tensions with China, which has been angered by her refusal to endorse Beijing’s concept that Taiwan and China are part of a single Chinese nation.
Late last month, in what Beijing called routine exercises, China’s first and only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, and a flotilla of warships sailed past the south of Taiwan, prompting Taipei to deploy fighter jets to monitor the fleet.
“I’m confident that both Taiwan and the US want this transit to be low profile,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There is nothing to be gained by irritating Beijing.”
Tsai is leading a delegation of 120 people. She is to attend the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
She said she would also interact with the heads of state of other countries at the inauguration.
Observers were watching to see if any of the four Central American nations might defect despite Tsai’s efforts, but say stronger US support under Trump’s administration would help balance future diplomatic losses.
“We should expect that in the Trump administration the US would be more vociferous and emphatic about Taiwan’s participation in international organizations,’’ said Ross Feingold, a Taipei-based senior adviser at DC International Advisory, a consulting firm whose chief executive has been consulted by the Trump transition team.
SHOW OF SUPPORT: As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan might collaborate with Manila against China’s aggressive actions, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday hinted that Taiwan might join forces with the Philippines to protect navigational freedoms, days after Beijing blocked Philippine supply ships in the South China Sea. The ministry made the comment when asked whether Taipei would be willing to join forces with the Philippines to protect the latter from increasingly aggressive activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard. Taiwan “is willing to cooperate with any other nation with shared values in areas of common concern, including maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacfic region,” it wrote in a statement. A Chinese
‘LIKE A BLACK HOLE’: The figure is about 7% of China’s reported military spending, although diplomats and experts say that number is often opaque or not fully inclusive China spent about US$15 billion, or 7 percent of its defense budget, on exercises in the western Pacific last year, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbors. The internal research by the military, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China’s defense spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region. China claims Taiwan as its own and is also locked in disputes with several nations over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. “This
‘GLOBAL THREAT’: MOFA said that it welcomes the ‘staunch US support’ and that ‘China again made spurious claims about Taiwan that do not accord with reality’ US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, while a senior Chinese military official warned the US to stop “collusion” with Taiwan in a rare one-on-one meeting yesterday, both sides said. Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US national security adviser to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and other high-ranking officials. Yesterday morning, Sullivan met with Zhang Youxia (張又俠), vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s second-highest-ranking military official, at the Beijing headquarters of the commission.
PRESSURE: The Solomon Islands, acting under explicit instructions from Beijing, is aiming to prevent Taiwan from attending the next forum to be held in Honiara Australia has voiced support for Taiwan despite the Solomon Islands’ plan to undermine Taiwan’s status as an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The forum is one of the most important international organizations in the Pacific region, made up of 18 member states, including Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan’s Pacific allies, associate members and observers, along with “dialogue partners” such as the US, Japan, Canada and the EU. The 53rd edition of the forum opened in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, yesterday. Taiwan has been taking part in the forum and related events as a “developmental partner” under the name Taiwan / Republic of