Chinese officials have made clear they aren’t happy about the planned opening of a U.S. office complex in Taipei the same day as the denuclearization summit in Singapore.
Politico
Date: 05/31/2018
By: ANDREW RESTUCCIA
Construction signage is seen in front of the newly-built American Institute in Taipei (AIT) building in Taipei on May 3. | Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images
As Trump administration officials scramble to pull off a high-stakes meeting with North Korea next month, they’re grappling with another diplomatic challenge in Asia: the opening of a new office building in Taiwan.
Senior White House aides have for months been quietly weighing how to handle the June 12 opening of an office complex in Taipei that serves as a de facto U.S. embassy without enraging the Chinese government.
Chinese officials have repeatedly signaled, both in public comments and in private conversations with Trump administration aides, that any decision by the United States to include high-level officials — or even worse, a Cabinet secretary — in the delegation attending the ceremony would be met with outrage from Beijing.
With less than two weeks to go before the event, the White House has not yet finalized the delegation, according to people familiar with the planning, though it is expected to include at least one senior administration official. At one point last year, these people said, the White House considered sending former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who resigned in September amid a scandal over private jet travel.
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