Of course both sides agreed ahead of time
The Washington Post hints that maybe possibly Trump was lying about how that phone call with Taiwan’s president happened and what was discussed when it did happen.
But a spokesman in the Taiwanese president’s office clarified to Reuters that the call was agreed to beforehand.
“Of course both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact,” spokesman Alex Huang said in response to Trump’s tweet.
Taiwan’s government also said the two sides discussed “strengthening bilateral relations” and talked about their “close economic, political and security ties” — all words likely to make China cringe and suggestive of a more in-depth conversation than just a congratulatory call.
“Cringe” is again a cautious way of putting it.
Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and potential Trump foreign policy adviser Ric Grenell said Friday night that the flap was overblown.
“It was totally planned,” Grenell said. “It was a simple courtesy call. People need to calm down. The ‘One China’ policy wasn’t changed. Washington, D.C., types need to lighten up.”
Right. People who know something about foreign affairs and diplomacy and China and Taiwan – they all need to calm down and lighten up, and let the people who know nothing whatever about any of it just get on with trying to start a war between nuclear states.
But the situation raises real questions about who is advising Trump when it comes to diplomacy with Asia, as The Post’s Emily Rauhala writes. It also came just a day after the New York Times reported on building concerns about Trump’s handling of other calls with world leaders and his preparation level. And the stakes are considerably higher with China than with Mexico and many other countries.
His preparation level is zero. We know this. He’s much too busy taking victory laps and tweeting bullshit and trying to persuade the New York Times to be nice to him to do any pesky preparation.
Even if it wasn’t meant to be a big deal, it’s clearly become a big deal to China. China has now lodged an official complaint with the United States over the matter, though it appears to be giving Trump the benefit of the doubt and blaming Taiwan. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, called it a “petty” move by Tsai. “The One China principle is the foundation for heathy development of Sino-U. S. relations,” Wang said. “We don’t wish for anything to obstruct or ruin this foundation.”
By “benefit of the doubt” I suppose Aaron Blake means “allowances because he’s such an imbecile.”
Careful there, Donny, those overpriced clothes that you and Ivanka flog aren’t going to make themselves.
What happens when he actually commits an action that would be considered treason? Who knows, he might have already. If we indict a president elect for treason, does that mean we have to inaugurate the vice-president elect? Ugh, Pence…
These are mistakes Clinton never would have made. She has a good grasp on our foreign policy, and she would have attended daily briefings. That seems to be actually one of the things that Trump voters didn’t like about her – she knew more than they did.
I cringed frequently through the GWB administration, but at least he saved his worst for AFTER he got into office, and I don’t think anything he did trumps (pardon the pun) the nonsense being spewed by the Great Orange Leader.
And once his picture goes up in government offices, I’m going to have to conduct all government business with my eyes closed. I cannot stand looking at that face anymore.
‘Cringe’ is an inappropriate term, the Middle Kingdom doesn’t cringe, that’s the danger.
iknklast,
Kennedy nearly got us all vaporised and George Bush the Second devastated the NE. Are you really claiming that Trump will be even more dangerous?
Nobody knows that Trump will be more dangerous, because we don’t know the future. But am I for instance claiming that the way he’s carrying on, and his nature, seem to indicate that he will? Yes. Most definitely. He might start a nuclear war, just to name one item.
Well, Ophelia let’s hope that Trump’s business instincts dominate and that he decides to ‘do business’ rather than confront Russia or China. Kennedy is supposed to have regretted giving too much significance to the advice of his generals and the CIA, they certainly had absolutely no idea in Vietnam. It’s alarming that Trump seems to have stacked the deck with the military.
I can’t see how Trump can deliver on his domestic promises either, given the nature of the global economy. There’s a limit to the influence even the US President can have over trans national corporations. There’s only so much snake oil to sell, sooner or later the marks will realise they’re being conned.
No, I’m not going to hope that Trump’s business instincts dominate – he’ll be the president, not a huckster! He’s not there to do business. If I’m going to hope something I’ll hope he gets impeached or indicted or ill or bored or whatever it takes to get him out of that job.
To clarify, when I wrote to ‘do business’ I meant to do political/diplomatic ‘deals’ rather than to confront other nation states.
Ah! Beg pardon. Trump has made me see everything in his terms.
No problems. Trump is scary enough from the outside, he must be far worse from the inside.
I’d love it if one of these third-party countries released the audio of their Trump calls. Some (Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan) appear to have been much more transparent in reporting the content of the conversations than Trump’s political dealings within the US.
It’s scary that it has even come to this and I can’t believe I’m typing this, but it was refreshing to hear China calling Trump out on his idiocy. I’m not sure of any other country that could afford to do that. The man is a global threat in so many ways.
Do I think Trump will be more dangerous? Yes, I think it is a strong probability but not necessarily in the way you are thinking about. The combination of our over – grown baby leader with a Congress that has never met a regulation they didn’t hate could spell the end of not just our social safety net but also the bare bones environmental protection we’ve fought to build up over the past several decades. We are likely at or near a tipping point on the climate and on many other environmental fronts that get a lot less press.
Once those regulations go away there is literally nothing standing between us and environmental catastrophe except luck and the good will of the corporate CEOs, the same CEOS that have been trying for years to kill off the regulations and any other rules that were designed to keep their greed from harming too many people. The regulations are inadequate but they are better than nothing.
And once those regulations go away, it will probably take twice as much of a fight to get them back…think the sixties on steroids.
iknklast,
“And once those regulations go away, it will probably take twice as much of a fight to get them back…think the sixties on steroids.”
I was at university in the sixties, my ‘educated’ generation thought that social democracy and environmentalism were secured, how arrogant and naive we were. While we were indulging in self-congratulation, the plutocracy re-consolidated, recruited new propagandists and subverted politicians. Capitalists have played the game since the start of the Industrial Revolution, private profit public costs.
That seems like a lot of words to use just to say Reagan was elected ;-)
Seriously, I read tons of articles, both left and right, that moan about the costs of the environmental regulations. I read only a handful, usually in somewhat more obscure journals, that point out the costs of no environmental regulations. That point out the fact that the benefits outweigh the costs. That point out the fact that it levels the playing field for those corporations (there are a handful) that want to be environmentally friendly, but can’t compete unless they play the game by the same rules, which means cut costs or suffer a hostile takeover. The market is skewed toward the ruthless and the conscienceless.