In Transit, Taiwan President Set To Stop In U. S. — To China's Displeasure
Rarely does a layover draw intense international scrutiny.
Yet when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen touches down in Houston, after setting out from Taiwan on Saturday, China’s attentions will be squarely trained on what she does during her brief stopover. The stop in Houston, en route to Tsai’s diplomatic visit in Central America, has taken on new significance since her December phone call with President-elect Donald Trump unsettled decades of U. S. policy toward China.
Tsai labeled the stop in Houston — as well as the one in San Francisco at the end of Tsai’s nine-day visit — as mere « transit. » The focus of her visit will be with Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, all of which officially recognize Taiwan.
The U. S., however, has not officially recognized Taiwan since 1979, when « the United States recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China, » according to the U. S. State Department.
That stance — which is known as the « one-China policy » — has guided official U. S.-Taiwan relations ever since, though the State Department acknowledges they « enjoy a robust unofficial relationship. »
This delicate, decades-long arrangement received an unexpected shock from a single, brief phone call last month, during which Tsai congratulated Trump on winning the presidency. At the time, Trump said he wouldn’t feel « bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade. »
China, for its part, responded by expressing « serious concerns. »
The Los Angeles Times notes evidence of increased strain in diplomatic relations since that conversation:
« 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. »
Still, Trump has not shown an inclination to meet with Tsai on this trip. He has said it is « a little bit appropriate » to meet anyone before his inauguration on Jan. 20. And the Times reports that the U. S. has not allowed Tsai to pass through New York or Washington, D. C., « where she could more easily see U. S. politicians. »
Tsai also tried to tamp down speculation about her trip, saying at a news conference before her flight that « a transit is a transit. »
She departed Taiwan on Saturday, but her office has not publicly released an itinerary of her trip.
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China’s foreign exchange reserves continued its downslide in December as it declined for straight six months to hit a five year low. However, the Chinese government can take respite in the fact that the decline was less than what most analysts had expected. 
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has arrived in Houston for a brief transit stop during her trip to Central America. Her congratulatory phone call to President-elect Donald Trump after his election victory caused controversy in U. S.-China relations. (Jan. 7)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to bolster the self-ruled island’s international presence as she heads on a four-nation trip to Central America. The diplomatic mission, with stopovers in the United States, will be closely scrutinised by Beijing for signs of future US policies regarding Taiwan. An irritated Beijing, which warned Washington against admitting Tsai, is certain to react with stronger pressure against Taipei if Tsai meets with US president-elect Donald Trump or his team, observers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait said. Tsai began her nine-day visit on Saturday – her second since taking office in May. She was due to arrive in Houston the same day, where she would stop overnight, before heading to Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. She is scheduled to return to Taipei on January 14 following a second US stopover, this time in San Francisco. “I have two important missions on this visit,” Tsai said at a brief conference at Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei, prior to her departure. “One is to cement ties with our allies and increase Taiwan’s global presence. “The other is to deepen bilateral cooperation programmes with our allies,” she said, adding she would seize the opportunity to have closer interaction not just with the leaders of Taiwan’s allies, but also with leaders of other countries. The trip is crucial for Taiwan as it struggles to retain its remaining 21 allies despite pressure from Beijing, especially amid rising concern that Nicaragua might soon move its allegiance to the mainland. Tsai’s trip follows a phone conversation between her and Trump last month, which broke decades-old diplomatic protocol. In a move that further infuriated Beijing, Trump later questioned the validity of the one-China policy if Beijing did not make concessions on trade and other issues. Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province, warned that Sino-US cooperation would be jeopardised if the one-China policy was not adhered to. Although a meeting between Trump and Tsai is not expected during her trip, Beijing is closely following every move Tsai makes. It is particularly watching for any interaction between her and the Trump team, to determine whether the future US administration might change its Taiwan policy, observers said. Wang Min, from the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said whether Tsai would make any “provocative remarks” during her stay in the United States would present the “bottom line” of both Tsai and Trump. “Beijing will be able to predict the level of future interaction between Taiwan and the US judging from who Tsai meets – the level of seniority of the aides,” Wang said. “The second sign to watch is what the two sides talk about and what agreements are made between them. “This is difficult to determine but we will be able to tell from Tsai’s words and actions after her return to Taiwan.” In the run up to Trump’s inauguration on January 20, both Beijing and officials from the current Barack Obama administration are seeking to ensure the one-China policy will endure. Outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a phone conversation on Thursday that Washington would uphold the policy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said Beijing was worried the Trump administration could abandon the one-China policy and that would embolden Tsai to push for independence. “They likely fear that private discussions during this transit [of Tsai] could pave the way for such an outcome,” she said. Glaser also said it would be “unwise” for Tsai to interact with the Trump team during her trip. “Her administration has many ways to communicate with the incoming US administration,” she said. “The phone call with Trump and his subsequent suggestion that Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip to extract trade concessions from China has been very damaging to Tsai and she is likely to be very cautious.” Beijing cut off official communications with Taipei after Tsai was inaugurated in May. It also boosted efforts to curb Taiwan’s participation in international forums and has established diplomatic relations with former Taipei allies. Such attempts have intensified, with small West African nation Sao Tome and Principe breaking ties with Taipei, and also extended to the military front. The PLA’s Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan last month in an exercise described by Beijing as routine. Tang Shao-cheng, a professor from Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, said Beijing would react strongly if Tsai met with the Trump team. “Within the year, tensions across the straits might escalate into an all-out confrontation – from verbal warnings to concrete measures taken by Beijing,” Tang said. “If Tsai is to make any move that upsets Beijing, Beijing might take measures against Taiwan to prove that Trump is wrong,” he said, citing possible efforts by Beijing to resume ties with more of Taiwan’s allies. Jonathan Sullivan, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham, said a meeting between Tsai and the Trump team was unlikely, and that Tsai had other serious matters to attend to with regard to shoring up Taiwan’s shrinking diplomatic alliances.
Clashes between protesters and government supporters have erupted in southern Sri Lanka during a rally against a port deal with China. 
Hundreds of thousands of protestors returned to the streets of Seoul on Saturday, demanding impeached President Park Geun-hye’s immediate removal and which left more than 300 dead. by parliament last month over an influence-peddling scandal and the Constitutional Court now has to decide whether to confirm the impeachment. The corruption scandal has brought huge numbers of protesters onto the streets every week demanding Park’s removal and she is also under fire over her response to the Sewol ferry accident in 2014. “Park step down, salvage the Sewol,” the protestors, estimated to number half a million by organisers, chanted as they marched toward the presidential Blue House, the prime minister’s office and the constitutional court. At 7pm hundreds of yellow balloons were released and the protestors blew out the candles they were carrying as a symbolic gesture asking that Park clarify the mystery surrounding her seven-hour absence at the time of the ferry sinking. Unconfirmed media reports have suggested a wide range of theories regarding Park’s whereabouts, including a romantic liaison, participation in a shamanistic ritual, cosmetic surgery or a 90-minute haircut. The protesters also urged the government to speed up its efforts to salvage the ship to determine the exact cause of the disaster. Regarding the corruption case, Park has repeatedly denied accusations she colluded with a long-time friend, Choi Soon-il, to strong-arm donations worth tens of millions of dollars from top firms which were then funnelled to dubious foundations. The president still has her supporters however, with an estimated 30,000 demonstrators staging a counter-protest Saturday outside the office of a special prosecutor investigating the scandal. Waving national flags and chanting military songs, the protesters dismissed the impeachment move as a conspiracy spawned by “pro-North Korean” leftists seeking to topple the conservative government.
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