Updating the President-elect’s scandal list, we have a couple more.
Reuters is reporting Trump has invited imminent dictator Duterte of the Philippines to visit:
Trump’s brief chat with the firebrand Philippine president follows a period of uncertainty about one of Washington’s most important Asian alliances, stoked by Duterte’s hostility toward President Barack Obama and repeated threats to sever decades-old defense ties.
The call lasted just over seven minutes, Duterte’s special adviser, Christopher Go, said in a text message to media, which gave few details.
Duterte congratulated the U.S. president-elect, the Trump team’s statement said, and the two men “noted the long history of friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and agreed that the two governments would continue to work together closely on matters of shared interest and concern.”
In five months in office, Duterte has upended Philippine foreign policy by berating the United States, making overtures toward historic rival China and pursuing a new alliance with Russia.
His diplomacy has created jitters among Asian countries wary about Beijing’s rising influence and Washington’s staying power as a regional counterbalance.
Perhaps “diplomacy” is a euphemism.
Second on the list is Trump’s direct contact with Taiwan, as reported by the New Civil Rights Movement:
Source: Washington Monthly
The U.S. Government severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, and technically no president, or president-elect, has spoken with their president since.
Why?
China.
Taiwan is considered by China to be a part of China, and China considers communication with the head of state of Taiwan to be a “highly provocative” act against the Chinese government, as one expert notes.
The Financial Times’ Demetri Sevastopulo and Geoff Dyer broke the news, reporting that Trump’s phone call “on Friday with Tsai Ying-wen, the president of Taiwan … risks opening up a major diplomatic dispute with China before he has even been inaugurated.”
The reporters note that “the call is likely to infuriate Beijing which regards the island as a renegade province.”
It’s often said the Chinese see symbolism everywhere. Let’s hope in Trump they see a drunken elephant, to be approached with caution and a tranquilizer gun. And absolutely no temper.
