Taiwan and the Trumpian Uncertainty Principle

Core to Donald Trump’s appeal, both at home and abroad, is that he doesn’t seem to care how he’s supposed to behave. He certainly doesn’t fuss over offending Chinese nationalist sensibilities. This perhaps explains, in part, his curious adventure in China-Taiwan diplomacy.

On December 2, Tsai Ing-Wen, the president of Taiwan, called Trump to congratulate him on his victory, making her the first Taiwanese president in decades to speak directly to her American counterpart. “It’s like a beam of new hope,” one Taiwanese housemaker , after it happened. Nine days after the call, Trump “Everything is under negotiation including One China,” a stunning reference to a loose doctrine under which Washington can regard Taiwan as an ally and maintain unofficial diplomatic relations with Taipei, so long as it doesn’t acknowledge Taiwanese