Political parties and the Taiwan people have publicly welcomed a phone call between their president and US president-elect Donald Trump, seeing it as a positive move in a long game of attrition against the island’s precarious democracy.
The unexpected call has rattled foreign policy experts in the US and China who are used to a delicate word dance over the status of the island, which neither Washington nor Beijing recognise as a state. Beijing lodged a formal protest and many commentators expect further repercussions.
In Taiwan, the call is seen as a breakout move that could strengthen Taiwan’s hand as the two superpowers realign their relationship in Asia. Both the major parties have praised the call, although some caution that any small sign of favour to Taiwan just gives the future President Trump something to concede to Beijing in later negotiations.