Republicans cave to China
Forums:
From Kevin Drum;
December 2: Breaking tradition, Trump "risks China's wrath" by speaking on the phone with the president of Taiwan.
December 12: Trump goes on Fox News Sunday to poke China further: "I fully understand the 'one China' policy, but I don't know why we have to be bound by a 'one China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."
December through February: China gives Trump the silent treatment. "Stung by an earlier, and unorthodox, telephone call between Mr. Trump and the president of Taiwan, Mr. Xi had not spoken to the American leader since Nov. 14, the week after he was elected....Relations between Washington and Beijing had been frozen since December."
February 8: Apparently uneasy over Xi shutting him out, Trump finally sends Xi a letter wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. The letter was hand delivered by Mike Flynn: "As a gesture of conciliation, Flynn and his deputy, K.T. McFarland, hand-delivered the letter to China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai. Trump wrote that he wished 'the Chinese people a happy Lantern Festival and prosperous Year of the Rooster.' He also said he 'looks forward to working with President Xi to develop a constructive relationship that benefits both the United States and China.'"
February 8: A Chinese surveillance plane "inadvertently" buzzes an American P-3C Orion in the vicinity of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
February 9: Trump caves in and agrees to honor the One China policy.
- Log in to post comments
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
“Trump lost his first fight
“Trump lost his first fight with Xi and he will be looked at as a paper tiger,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, in Beijing, and an adviser to China’s State Council. “This will be interpreted in China as a great success, achieved by Xi’s approach of dealing with him.”