The Phone Call

choi

(1)
(a) Damian Paletta, Carol E Lee and Jeremy Page, Trump's Message Sparks Anger in China; President-elect's Taiwan call, tweets signal his approach will be more adversarial. (front-page top report).
http://www.wsj.com/articles/dona ... in-china-1480989202

Quote:

"Mr Trump's precedent-breaking phone call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, which a transition official said had been arranged by Bob Dole, the former Republican senator and presidential nominee. The call went beyond pleasantries and included a discussion about China and stability in the Asia-Pacific, according to a person familiar with the call.

"Mr Dole, in an interview, said the law firm he is affiliated with does work with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, and that the firm played a role in arranging the phone call. 'It’s fair to say that we may have had some influence,' Mr Dole said.

"during the discussion with Taiwan's leader, which lasted for about 12 minutes, Mr Trump stressed to Ms Tsai that his top priority is the US economy, said the person familiar with the call.

"Mr [Stephen] Yates, who is seen as a candidate for a post on Mr Trump's national security team.  'It was a message in the sense that Donald Trump is not necessarily going to be told what he can or can't do because a foreign leader says so. That's exactly the kind of thing that millions of Americans detest about Washington,' said Mr. Yates, who currently is visiting Taiwan for meetings with senior officials.  'If it's going to cause some pain, then so be it,' he said."

Note: The print version ends here (the last quotation) -- and yet the online version continues for a few more paragraphs).
(b) Julie Pace and Matthew Pennington, By Accident or Design, Trump Signals Tougher China Policy. Associated Press, Dec 6, 2016.
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/ ... 05-US--Trump-China/

the first paragraph: "WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether by accident or design, President-elect Donald Trump is signaling a tougher American policy toward China, sparking warnings from both the outgoing Obama administration and Beijing.

the last paragraph: "Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Trump appears to be signaling a willingness to increase ties with Taiwan, but not necessarily a full overhaul of US policy.  'It doesn't mean we're going to poke the Chinese in the eye; it doesn't mean we're going to change the "One China policy," '  said Lohman, whose think tank has been advising Trump's transition. 'But it does mean we will reform our Taiwan policy to reflect reality.'

My comment: There is no need to read the rest, which is inane.

(2) Gerald F Seib, Trump Shuffles America's Ideological Deck. Wall Street Journal, Dec 6, 2016
http://www.wsj.com/articles/dona ... cal-deck-1480955194
Note: "This discombobulated terrain is seen in the Trump transition."

discombobulate (vt): "UPSET, CONFUSE <inventing cool new ways to discombobulate the old order — Kurt Andersen>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discombobulate

Note: "This discombobulated terrain is seen in the Trump transition."

discombobulate (vt): "UPSET, CONFUSE <inventing cool new ways to discombobulate the old order — Kurt Andersen>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discombobulate