Meanwhile, America reinforces its alliance with Taiwan with bricks and mortar

The Econnomist
Date: Jun 14th 2018

GIVEN all the hoopla of President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator, the opening on the same day of a new American not-quite-an-embassy in Taipei was never going to hog the headlines. Yet to judge by how much Chinese officials have harangued American diplomats and congressmen about who was going to attend the ceremony in Taiwan’s capital, China appears to care every bit as much and perhaps more about America’s actions in Taiwan than about geopolitical rivalry on the Korean peninsula.

Since 1979, when America broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan in order to open them with China, its “one-China policy” has been the bedrock of dealings with China. This means never referring to Taiwan as a country and always “acknowledging” that both China and Taiwan hold to the idea that there is but one China, even if the two sides disagree over the definition. The fudge has allowed America to enjoy close unofficial relations with Taiwan. China rarely appeared bothered by America’s unofficial representation in Taipei, known as the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). For a long time it was housed in a dingy former military building in an unprepossessing part of the city.    [FULL  STORY]