The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Edward White

The conversation, which took place on Friday, is thought to be the first time a president or president-

Photo Credit: Reuters/達志影像

elect of the United States has directly talked to the leader of Taiwan since 1979.

Taiwan’s main opposition party has questioned the value of the historic phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The conversation, which took at 11 p.m. on Friday (Taiwan time), is thought to be the first time a president or president-elect of the United States has directly contacted the leader of Taiwan since 1979, when formal diplomatic ties between the United States and China were established. The call marks a major break with convention, as China has for decades blocked formal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan.

Eric Huang (黃裕鈞), the Director of International Affairs Department of The Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT), says that the opposition hopes that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “will implement foreign policies that consider regional and cross-Strait political relations, and have our country’s benefit as the primary strategic consideration, rather than engage in events that merely offer foreign policy public relations value.”    [FULL  STORY]