Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan, will make transit stops in the United States when she heads to the Americas, but will not receive a visit from President-elect Donald Trump or from anyone on his transition team:
Trump transition spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said in an email Saturday that the president-elect would not be meeting with the Taiwanese leader while she is in the U.S., nor will members of his transition team.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.”
In early December, Trump caused some rumbles in the force when he spoke with Tsai on the phone, “the first time a president or president-elect has spoken with the leader of Taiwan since Washington established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979.” China threw a hissy fit and lodged a protest with Washington.
But Tasi might keep a low profile on her trip “to avoid further inflaming tensions with China, which has been angered by her refusal to endorse Beijing’s concept that Taiwan and the mainland are part of a single Chinese nation.” See, China cannot handle the fact that the island wants freedom and independence:
China already passed an aircraft carrier through waters near Taiwan in the last two weeks, and the government in Taipei suspects Beijing last month paid the African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe to recognize China instead of Taiwan. Both moves came after Tsai telephoned Trump on Dec. 2.China might respond to the trip with more military displays or by offering aid money to win over the Central American countries Tsai hopes to impress on her trip, some argue. China does not allow its diplomatic allies to have separate, formal ties with Taiwan.
Political analyst Liao Da-chi said that “China cares most about is whether Tsai and Trump will meet.” Beijing even asked the government “to bar Tasi from flying through US airspace.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY