Trump’s Hint at a Talk With Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te Touches a Nerve With Beijing’s Communist Regime

President Trump has hit China’s president, Xi Jinping, where it hurts by intimating he would be happy to talk to the leader of Free Taiwan.Offhand though the comment might seem, a conversation between the American and Taiwan presidents would be about the most upsetting irritant in Washington’s relations with Beijing since Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island four years ago. China doesn’t just react angrily over American overtures to Taiwan; it responds as though it has every right to tell the Americans whom they can and cannot talk to, at least when it comes to Taiwan.No American president has talked to the president of Taiwan since President Carter transferred diplomatic recognition of China from the “Republic of China” at Taipei to the Communist government at Beijing on January 1, 1979. While Washington remains committed to the defense of Taiwan, and has been selling arms to it ever since, it has been out of the question for any president or Cabinet member to talk to a Taiwan official.“Why a Trump call to Taiwan’s Lai could trigger ‘turbulence’ between Washington and Beijing,” headlines the South China Morning Post. The Hong Kong-based newspaper reports that Beijing “has reiterated its firm opposition to any official interactions between Washington and Taiwan” in the wake of Mr. Trump’s “remarks that he would be open to speaking with the person ‘running’ the island.” That person, whom Mr. Trump did not name, happens to be Free China’s president, Lai Ching-te, who won election two years ago after intimating that he believes Taiwan should be an independent country, not just a runaway province from the Chinese mainland, 90 miles away across the Taiwan Strait.When asked if he would talk to Mr. Lai during one of those conversational “gaggles” in which Mr. Trump often scolds reporters, the president said, “Well, I’ll speak to him.” To which he added, as if to suggest a conversation would be no big deal, “I speak to everybody.”The White House has said nothing about plans for a conversation between Messrs. Trump and Lai, but clearly they would have a lot to discuss. American-Chinese relations right now seem to hang on whether Mr. Trump will sign off on sales to Taiwan of $14 billion in military hardware, including rocket systems, howitzers, anti-tank missiles, drones and components for other weaponry — all wanted to stave off any invasion by Chinese troops aboard the navy vessels that regularly encircle the island.Mr. Lai would be happy to take the call, according to the Taipei Times, which quotes him as saying he would “express the voice of Taiwanese society.” Far from espousing a formal declaration of independence for Taiwan, Mr. Lai told reporters on Wednesday that he is “committed to maintaining the status quo” which leaves the Beijing-Taipei relationship ambiguous. Taiwan, he said, is “a guardian of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” while China is “undermining peace and stability.”Mr. Lai, whose conservative Democratic Progressive Party is anxious to build up militarily against the danger of Chinese invasion, did not repeat the calls for Taiwan independence that he made before his election as president, but suggested the island is already a de-facto nation.The Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and “independent country,” the Taipei Times quoted him as saying. “No country has the right to annex Taiwan. The people of Taiwan pursue a democratic and free way of life, and democracy and freedom should not be regarded as provocation.”Beijing, of course, was having none of it. “Lai Ching-te’s speech fully demonstrates ‘Taiwan independence’ is China-US common enemy,” headlined the Global Times, an English-language offshoot of Beijing’s People’s Daily. “There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. Anyone who denies this is undermining the very foundation of peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.”

Trump’s Hint at a Talk With Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te Touches a Nerve With Beijing’s Communist Regime

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