US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday left open the possibility of meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) if she visits the US after he is sworn in on Jan. 20 and also expressed continued skepticism over whether Russia was responsible for computer hacks of US Democratic Party officials.
In remarks to reporters upon entering a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump said: “We’ll see,” when pressed on whether he would meet Tsai if she were to be in the US at any point after he becomes president.
Tsai is to transit in Houston on Saturday and in San Francisco on Friday next week on her way and from a trip to Central America.
Beijing bristled when Trump, a few weeks after his Nov. 8 victory, accepted a congratulatory telephone call from Tsai and has warned against steps that would upset the “one China” policy China and the US have maintained for decades.
Talk of a stop-over by Tsai in the US has further rattled Washington-Beijing relations.
On another foreign policy matter, Trump warned against being quick to pin the blame on Russia for the hacking of US e-mails. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Moscow could be behind intrusion into a laptop owned by a Vermont electric utility.
US intelligence officials have said that they are confident Russia was behind the hacks, which could have played a role in Trump’s defeat over failed US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“I think it’s unfair if we don’t know. It could be somebody else. I also know things that other people don’t know so we cannot be sure,” Trump said.
Asked what that information included, the Republican president-elect said: “You will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”
He did not elaborate.
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