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Discussing the overnight resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, CNN's David Gregory managed this morning to work in a broad swipe at the president. Gregory claimed that "the fledgling foreign policy in the Trump administration [has] been a disaster." Really? Gregory ignored: the widely-praised, weekend-long meetings that Trump just concluded with Japanese PM Abe; Trump's positive conversation with Chinese Premier Xi and the confirmation of the One China policy; the re-establishment of the special relationship with the UK and its PM May, and of course the healing of ties with Israel after years of Obama animosity culminating in his...

Washington “One-China” Policy Dead As Pompeo Lifts Restrictions On US-Taiwan Relations The embattled Trump administration has just nuked the decades long US recognition of the “One China” policy status quo in what surely constitutes the biggest shot across Beijing’s bow after months of anti-China escalation. Despite the globe’s attention focused on the Capitol protest chaos and Democrats readying a charge to impeach under Pelosie, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday announced this absolute bombshell, namely that he’s now lifting “self-imposed restrictions” on the relationship between the United States and Taiwan. He announced in an official statement: Today I am...

German Foreign Minister Says China Must Respect A ‘One Europe Policy’ If It Wants Europe To Pursue A ‘One China Policy’ BY SYNGLOBE ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2017 Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stunned China by urging Beijing to abide by a ‘One-Europe Policy’. Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel stunned China by urging Beijing to abide by a ‘One-Europe Policy’. At a conference of European diplomats held in Paris on August 30, Gabriel warned colleagues that China is trying to “divide Europe” and that the continent must find a common strategy to counterbalance Beijing’s influence. Gabriel stated that some European countries...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's two-day summit meeting with Donald Trump, overshadowed by the U.S. attack on Syria, gave each president the chance to take the measure of the other and, apparently, each liked what he saw. From the Chinese perspective, things went very well indeed, with China taking the initiative and the Americans going along. It wasn't supposed to be like that. Trump had plans to pressure Xi to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. Trump also expected Xi to "step up" and help rein in North Korea. Neither thing happened. From the beginning, China felt it had the situation under...

WASHINGTON — When President Trump took a phone call from the leader of Taiwan in December and asserted that the United States might no longer be bound by the “One China” policy, his defenders hailed it as a show of strength — the latest delicate issue on which Mr. Trump was willing to challenge decades of diplomatic orthodoxy. On Thursday evening, Mr. Trump fell back into line. In a call with President Xi Jinping of China, he pledged fealty to One China, a 44-year-old policy under which the United States recognized a single Chinese government in Beijing and severed its...

President Donald Trump's acceptance of Beijing's demand that he re-commit to a "one China" policy was heavily influenced by his new top diplomat, who argued behind the scenes that relations would remain on hold until Trump cleared up doubts about a longtime bedrock of U.S.-China ties, officials said.

By now you know that President Elect Trump took a call from the President of Taiwan and simultaneously lit on fire the underpants of the mainstream media and maybe the leadership of China too. Apparently taking a phone call from the president of Taiwan is a major diplomatic change from the so-called “One China Policy” that imagines Taiwan as a rogue province of China, not its own country. Reports are saying this call was planned, not a mistake on the Trump team’s side. Was this a mistake by Trump? If you look at this call through the filter of normal...

Chinese man arrested after paddling two miles to watch Taiwan elections A Chinese man has been detained for entering Taiwan illegally after paddling two miles from China's Fujian province to the offshore island of Kinmen, apparently to observe next month's Taiwanese elections, an official said Guo Jiyong, 35, will be repatriated to China, coast guard spokesman Shih Yi-nan said. The January 14 presidential and legislative elections have stirred great interest in authoritarian China, with last Saturday's televised debate among the three presidential candidates sparking thousands of Internet comments, many of them praising Taiwan's democratic system. "I want to see your...

Washington Stalls on Refitting Taiwan's Air Force Written by Jens Kastner Serious implications for the US as guarantor of security in Asia Taipei for years has been requesting brand-new F-16C/D fighter jets from a reluctant Obama administration in Washington, DC, which is said to have shied away from authorizing the US$5.5 billion deal for fear of offending Beijing. The only alternative for Taiwan appears to be the prospect of a punchy midlife upgrade of its existing fleet of F-16A/Bs. But according to recent media reports, the upgrade won't happen anytime soon, If that proves true, Taiwan will in all likelihood...

Kathmandu: Thousands of Tibetan children and their families face stiff punishment at the hands of the Chinese government for enrolling into schools in India that are run by the Tibetan government in exile, headed by their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a rights body said. The Washington-headquartered International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has expressed its misgivings as the ultimatum issued by the Communist Party of China authorities to the Tibetan Party and government workers expired last week. In July, Communist Party authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region had issued a directive stating that Tibetan children must confess if they have...

Obama will need to ready himself for demands from friends and threats from enemies. China released a report, timed to coincide with the new President taking office, that ‘advises’ the US that weapon sales to Taiwan harm the relationship between China and the US. Given that China is sitting on over a $ trillion of US Treasury Bonds (more than the report below cites according to economists in the know), you can be sure that Washington takes notes of disapproval from China very seriously. The following report is from Associated Press: China made a rare appeal for cooperation between its...

U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Friday that urges the United States to resume normal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Under current U.S. policy, the United States has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan and has a so-called one-China policy, with Beijing as its capital. A sponsor of the legislation, Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, called that policy outdated. "It's time for the United States to stop living this lie and to formally recognize Taiwan for what it is: An independent and sovereign country," said Tancredo, a strong critic of China and champion of Taiwan. Such language infuriates China, which considers the democratic island...

Taiwan ruling party to stage mass anti-China rally 1 hour, 52 minutes ago Supporters of Taiwan's independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are planning to take to the streets to protest rival China's military threats to the island. "We are calling for solidarity and cooperation for the March 18 rally to protest against China and let our voice be heard by the world," said DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun. "If we don't speak out, we can't protect our democratic way of living and our rights to free choice," he said. The DPP is expecting a turnout of 100,000 for the rally...

DON'T LET DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE Robert Zoellick's fondness for pandas mislead you. The Bush administration's China policy has been undergoing a quiet metamorphosis, and now has a new steeliness to it.Fifteen months ago, just two days before George W. Bush's reelection, the Chinese government's English-language mouthpiece, China Daily, reprinted a blast by senior diplomat Qian Qichen against a "Bush Doctrine" marked by "cocksuredness and arrogance." President Bush no doubt believed, in the last days of an extremely tight race, that Qian's comments were an attempt to influence the result of the election, or at the very least an attempt...

DURING HIS RECENT TRIP TO Japan, South Korea, China, and Mongolia, President Bush extolled the region's wave of democratization as "one of the greatest stories in human history" and lamented the holdouts who are "out of step with their neighbors and isolated from the world." The president also made it clear that democratic Taiwan, though itself isolated internationally, is as important to the United States as Japan and South Korea. He pointedly held Taiwan out to China as an example of a "free and democratic Chinese society."Such praise of Taiwan--delivered in Kyoto shortly before the president arrived in Beijing--contrasts sharply...

New PLA missile `a warning' for the US, experts say DPA , TAIPEI Sunday, Jun 19, 2005,Page 3 Advertising China's newly-developed submarine-launched Ju Lang-2 missile serves as a warning to the US not to underestimate Beijing's military power, Taiwanese military experts said yesterday. "The Ju Lang-2 poses a great threat to the US because it has better precision and guidance and is harder to detect," said Weng Ming-hsien, a professor from the Institute of Strategic Studies at the Tamkang University. "China wants to tell the US that it has never stopped developing nuclear arms. China also wants to warn Russia...

China floats idea of highway to Taiwan By Mure Dickie in Beijing and Kathrin Hille in Taipei Published: January 13 2005 16:57 | Last updated: January 13 2005 16:57 Mainland China has included Taiwan in its plans for highway construction, with Zhang Chunxian, communications minister, on Thursday even raising the possibility of building the world's longest undersea tunnel to link the highway networks of the Cold War rivals. Mr Zhang's thoughts of a tunnel under the Taiwan Strait are likely to remain no more than a political pipe dream for the foreseeable future, since Beijing and Taipei are bitter rivals...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Relations between China and Taiwan are grim and the Chinese people and army will crush any major moves toward independence at any cost, a government white paper said on Monday. "The situation in the relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits is grim," the white paper on China's national defense said. "Should the Taiwan authorities go so far as to make a reckless attempt that constitutes a major incident of 'Taiwan independence', the Chinese people and armed forces will resolutely and thoroughly crush it at any cost," it said. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province...

China has successfully tested a new guided missile which it says is highly accurate, state media said yesterday amid rising tensions with Taiwan. 'Several days ago, a new model of a guided missile developed and built by China was tested and achieved satisfactory success,' the China News Service quoted project researcher Feng Dawei as saying. 'The missile accurately hit its target with a high degree of precision.' A Sparrow air-to-air missile being loaded onto an F-16 fighter at Taiwan's Hualian airbase during military drills yesterday simulating an attack by China. -- AFP The agency did not give any details about...

Taiwan flaunted its fighter jets in the biggest-ever air show on the island on Saturday, a show of strength as tensions simmer with arch-foe China. Reuters Photo Reuters Slideshow: China-Taiwan Relations U.S.-made F-16s, French Mirage fighters and Taiwan-made Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDFs) streaked across the sky above the Taoyuan airbase in northern Taiwan, spinning 360 degrees in sharp formations in front of a cheering crowd. The exhibition came as Taiwan and China hold annual military drills, with tensions especially high this summer because Beijing is convinced the island it views as a renegade province could push for formal statehood under...