That is what I implied in my OP
We already heard his gibberesh answers to debate questions.
Or, “let you and him fight.”
The trick is to actually consult with and listen to those experts. Had he done so, they would have advised him against talking to Taiwan.
As others have pointed out, the countries that recognize Taiwan do so on the basis that they recognize it as the legitimate government of China, not as the former Chinese province that is now an independent Taiwan. Countries don’t recognize provinces of other countries as sovereign states when they haven’t even declared independence yet.
How many divisions does Goldman Sachs have?
It might even be right to talk to taiwan and piss the prc off.
But as part of a deliberate, coherent strategy. Not for the hell of it.
Well, the U.S. has a soon-to-be-president who is going to do clumsy random shit. It’s fair to expect that sometimes that random shit will work out for the better.
Of course, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble and just appointed President Magic 8-Ball.
I saw an article today that claimed that tweets from Trump from months and months ago indicated that he was well aware of the situation with regard to Taiwan, meaning that he well knew what he was doing when he took this call.
So I tried but failed to do the Google search to find older tweets from him referencing Taiwan. Is anyone else able to do this?
Even if those tweets turn up, it only proves that somebody with access to Trump’s Twitter account used to be well aware of the situation. Given that 1) his staffers sometimes post stuff to his Twitter account that is way saner and more coherent than his own posts; and 2) even if they’re his own tweets, it’s possible that he has bona fide problems retaining and remembering information, I still wouldn’t rule out sheer blundering cluelessness.
The Washington Post has something on this:
Trump’s call with Taiwan’s leader looks like a calculated move, some experts say
I agree with your sentence above.
However, this just isn’t an example of that. The call was worked out in advance – we know that because Taiwan media reported in advance that the call was coming. Maybe the people on Trump’s side didn’t know what they were doing, but maybe they did. It doesn’t much matter because Tsai ing-wen isn’t reckless.
Should Tsai ing-wen visit Trump in the White House? Probably not, but a phone call, even if Trump was in office, would be a safe moderate gesture.
I do have one criticism of the Trump move. While baby steps are nice, this doesn’t really achieve anything. A better baby step might be to insist that Taiwan get some sort of observer status in the International Civil Aviation Organization.
For much more, see this blog:
and this link from the above:
Militarily, none, but the relevant version of this sort of appeal-to-force might be, “How many lawyers/attorneys does Goldman Sachs have?”
Taiwan is not an issue where anyone should try random shit. It’s an issue where China and the United States not only don’t agree but it took a lot of careful effort to come up with a disagreement that both sides could accept.
That you ask that question shows that you’re not seeing the vast difference between business disagreements and international disagreements.
Its not just Trump. It the US foreign policy establishment which has missed the monumental changes which have occurred in World politics and economics since 2008. A nation of 1.5 Billion people with a 5000 year old history and the worlds largest economy and the planets Industrial engine is going to be a major player, whether the US likes it or not. The Chinese are going to be as assertive in SE Asia as the US was in the America’s in the early 20th century and there is precious little the US can do about it.
Trump is going to be in a different situation than Obama was in '09. When Bush II handed the baton to Barack, the US was still the worlds sole superpower. Today, we are living in a much more multipolar world and the rise of China and the reassertion of Russia (and their axis) constitutes a fundamental realignment of world affairs.
The Taiwan call was an absolutely brilliant move by Donald Trump. The last time the current President went to China, he was deliberately insulted, snubbed, humiliated and forced to go out of the ass of the plane
With the Taiwan call, Donald Trump in effect, delivered a powerful shot across Chinese bow: “sure, you can treat Obama like a weak pussy, but he’s still the President of the United States and he deserves respect. Shape up or else.”
You can be sure when Donald visits China, Chinese will be on their best behavior
Of course, if the new Adonis of the World Stage wanted to make a real statement about Taiwan and MAGA, the next time he was attending a summit in Beijing he’d have Air Force One call into Taipei on the way home.
That’d learn 'em.
Why? Why might they not insult him, just as he has insulted them? They now have more reason to show him scorn, not less.
“You can be sure when Donald visits California, they will be on their best behavior.” Wanna bet?
Eh…what??
Have you read the link I provided in the post you quote? The one where Mexican ambassador to China slowly, patiently explains that Obama was deliberately snubbed, insulted and humiliated? Have you seen the video, contrasting Obama’s reception to that of Vladimir Putin, the utter respect and awe the Russian President is being held in?
Have you read Obama’s explanation on the treatment he received? “Well, I’ve been treated even worse by my own allies on occasion, so it’s totally cool”.
You can almost hear the Chinese laughing in the background. And can you understand them. They know they can bitchslap the 44th President of United States, and the guy will take it. They also know that fucking with Putin might cost them life, limb and, perhaps, even Party elections.
There’re basically two kinds of politicians in this world, pussies and pussygrabbers. I’ll let you deduce on your own to which category President Obama belongs, and to which President Putin and President-Elect Trump belong.
What Trump just did was, of course, putting up Taiwan up for grabs by the highest bidder. The message to China is simple: you want One-China policy? Let’s see how much it’s worth to you.
If it’s worth nothing, the USA then surely doesn’t have adhere to it. We’ll completely open up our relationships with Taiwan, while forcing our European allies to do the same. Combine that with the visceral hatred that Japan, Philippines and especially Vietnam have for China, and we’ve got ourselves nice coalition, shifting the Asiatic center of power away from China.
And if One-China is worth something to the Chinese, let’s see how much exactly. Let’s make a deal.
The beauty of it is, of course, that Taiwan is completely welcome to outbid China (and China knows it). Let the highest bidder win.
There’s even an outside chance that Japan might join the bidding outright, since they held Formosa in the first half of the 20th century, but that, of course, is rather remote possibility.
And you can bet your sweet mamalookie that when Trump arrives in Beijing, the motherfucking pussygrabber will be met by red carpet, honor guard, and utter respect.