Press Briefing from Obama's White House on the Phone Call

choi

Three reports from WSJ today.

(1) Dave Michaels and Joshua Mitchell, Tweets Target Beijing on Policy. Wall Street Journal, Dec 5, 2016
http://www.marketwatch.com/story ... wan-call-2016-12-05

(2) Jenny W Hsu, Taipei Takes Wary View After Chat. Wall Street Journal, Dec 5, 2016
("Political analysts said * * * that a key barometer to watch is whom the US will allow Taiwan to send as an envoy to attend Mr Trump's inauguration in January. In the past, only the legislative speaker was permitted to attend and at the invitation of Congress, not the White House")

(3) Andrew Browne, With a Phone Call, Trump Puts Taiwan's Future in Play. Wall Street Journal, Dec 5, 2016
http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20161205/tec171050.asp

two consecutive paragraphs:

"Some of his more hawkish advisers are clear about their goals: an end to all the tip-toeing around Beijing’s sensitivities, and unambiguous US support for Taiwan, backed up by enhanced military cooperation. They want America to deal with Taiwan on its own terms, not Beijing’s.

"In the more extreme version of this view, the island would revert to its Cold War role as an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' to contain China.

My comment:
(a) "Writing earlier this year in The Wall Street Journal, John Bolton, the former UN ambassador who is in the frame for a senior job in the Trump White House, suggested" a pro-Taiwan approach.

in the frame: "British informal :  in the position of being considered for something <a job candidate who is still in the frame>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20the%20frame
(b) There is no need to read the rest of this commentary, which, though, is quite unusual in clamoring for re-evaluation of status quo -- saying, " 'one China' is increasingly anachronistic. * * * A policy reset is long overdue, both in Beijing, which needs to come up with an approach to Taiwan that accommodates the reality that it is a flourishing democracy—with no desire to come under Beijing's authoritarian sway—and in Washington.

choi

ress briefing at White House, Dec 5, 2016.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-p ... -josh-earnest-12516

The topic of Trump's receiving a phone call from Taiwan comes up first. The pertinent portion is as follows.

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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 12/5/16

12:28 P.M. EST

MR. EARNEST:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Happy Monday.  I hope you all enjoyed your weekends.  I do not have any announcements at the top, so we can go straight to your questions.

Kevin, would you like to begin?

Q    Sure.  Thank you, Josh.  Has the President talked to anyone affiliated with President-elect Trump’s transition team or to President Xi about the President-elect’s call with the leader in Taiwan?  Have any concerns been expressed with foreign leaders at all about this call?  Or is this simply President-elect Trump’s to own and for the current administration to distance itself from?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, Kevin, I don't have any presidential conversations to tell you about.  I can confirm that U.S. officials, including senior officials at the National Security Council, have been in touch with their Chinese counterparts to reiterate our country’s continued commitment to a one-China policy.  

This is a policy that is based on three joint U.S.-China communiques that were negotiated by different U.S. Presidents in different parties and, of course, by the Taiwan Relations Act.  This is a policy that has been in place for nearly 40 years, and it has been focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait.  The adherence to and commitment to this policy has advanced the ability of the United States to make progress in our relationship with China and, of course, has benefitted the people of Taiwan.  Taiwan, after all, is the ninth-largest trading partner of the United States, and they certainly benefit from peace and stability in the strait.  And pursuit of and commitment to that peace and stability advances U.S. interests.  

If the President-elect’s team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe.

Q    Have you had conversations with the President-elect’s team, and did you get the sense that this call is designed to forge closer relations with Taiwan?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, again, I think it's hard to determine exactly what the aim was of the President-elect.  I know both the Vice President-elect and his campaign manager were -- when asked about this over the weekend, indicated that these were courtesy calls -- or that this was a courtesy call and the President-elect was merely returning that call.  The Washington Post today tells a different story, with some Trump aides indicating that this was a long-planned call and that this is part of a broader strategic effort.

It's unclear exactly what the strategic effort is, what the aim of the strategic effort is, and it's unclear exactly what potential benefit could be experienced by the United States, China or Taiwan.  But I'll leave that to them to explain.