The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that it “welcomes the US’ support for the Republic of China [ROC],” but added that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration should not be “complacent” about Tsai’s congratulatory call to US president-elect Donald Trump, while a KMT caucus official said there is still room for ambiguous handling on the part of the US, as Trump has not yet been sworn into office.
The KMT said in a statement that it is grateful to the US for its support of the ROC.
“We are all the more glad to see that the Tsai administration and the US are continuing the smooth diplomatic policy built by the KMT administration in the past eight years and develop policies that would be advantageous to both nations within this framework,” it added.
The party called on the Tsai administration to “pay attention to the reality of regional politics and the balance between global diplomacy and cross-strait affairs.”
Tsai should report to the nation after her call with Trump on the direction of possible exchanges “between the ROC government and the US government in various areas, including the most important ones concerning economic and trade policies and military cooperation,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) said.
Hu also called on the nation’s national security agencies to “correctly analyze whether this highest-level official exchange since 1979 indicates a possible US policy shift or simply a one-off contact out of courtesy.”
The government should tell Taiwanese how it would cope if Trump withdraws from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, Hu added.
Hu also asked the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government not to seek “public-relations-oriented, feeling-good-about-yourself diplomatic breakthroughs,” but balance regional politics and cross-strait relations, making national interests the top strategic goal.
KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said as long as it is “good for Taiwan, [she] is glad to see that there is good communication between Taiwan and the US.”
It would be good if the US could continue to support Taiwan, she said, adding that the details of what was said between Tsai and Trump needs to be more transparent.
If the call was only congratulatory and a reassertion of friendship, it was a superficial diplomatic interaction, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) said, adding that she has misgivings that the unofficial phone call involved talk about the TPP and other trade-related negotiations, including the possible import of ractopamine-laced pork from the US.
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