Two Chinas Policy

Bob Dole Worked Behind the Scenes on Trump-Taiwan Call
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and ERIC LIPTON

Former Senator Bob Dole, shown in November 2015, has been working as a lobbyist with the Washington law firm Alston & Bird. 

WASHINGTON — Former Senator Bob Dole, acting as a foreign agent for the government of Taiwan, worked behind the scenes over the past six months to establish high-level contact between Taiwanese officials and President Donald J. Trump’s staff, an outreach effort that culminated last week in an unorthodox telephone call between Mr. Trump and Taiwan’s president.
Mr. Dole, a lobbyist with the Washington law firm Alston & Bird, coordinated with Mr. Trump’s campaign and the transition team to set up a series of meetings between Mr. Trump’s advisers and officials in Taiwan, according to disclosure documents filed last week with the Justice Department. Mr. Dole also assisted in successful efforts by Taiwan to include language favorable to it in the Republican Party platform, according to the documents.
Mr. Dole’s firm received $140,000 from May to October for the work, the forms said.
The disclosures suggest that President Trump’s decision to take a call from the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, was less a ham-handed diplomatic move and more the result of a well-orchestrated plan by Taiwan to use the election of a new president to deepen its relationship with the United States — with an assist from a seasoned lobbyist well versed in the machinery of Washington.
“They’re very optimistic,” Mr. Dole said of the Taiwanese in an interview on Tuesday. 

“They see a new president, a Republican, and they’d like to develop a closer relationship.”

The United States’ One China policy is nearly four decades old, Mr. Dole said, referring to the policy established in 1979 that denies Taiwan official diplomatic recognition but maintains close contacts, promoting Taiwan’s democracy and selling it advanced military equipment.

The phone call between Mr. Trump and Ms. Tsai was a striking break from nearly four decades of diplomatic practice and threatened to precipitate a major rift with China, which admonished Mr. Trump in a front-page editorial in the overseas edition of People’s Daily.
The disclosure documents were submitted before the call took place and made no mention of it. 

But Mr. Dole, 93, a former Senate majority leader from Kansas, said he had worked with transition officials to facilitate the conversation.
“It’s fair to say that we had some influence,” he said. 

“When you represent a client and they make requests, you’re supposed to respond.”
Officials on Mr. Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
The documents suggest that Mr. Dole helped the government of Taiwan establish early access to Mr. Trump’s inner circle during the campaign, when Mr. Dole worked to involve Mr. Trump’s aides in a United States delegation to Taiwan and to facilitate a Taiwanese delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.
The effort has continued in the weeks since the election, with Mr. Dole on Tuesday saying he was trying to fulfill a request from a special envoy from Taiwan who was visiting Washington to see Reince Priebus, tapped by Mr. Trump to be White House chief of staff, and Newt Gingrich, who is close to the president. (The Priebus meeting, Mr. Dole said, would most likely have to wait until Mr. Trump is inaugurated.)
Mr. Dole, the only former Republican presidential nominee to endorse Mr. Trump, arranged a meeting between Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, whom Mr. Trump has chosen to be his attorney general, and Stanley Kao, Taiwan’s envoy to the United States, and convened a meeting between Taiwanese officials and Mr. Trump’s transition team, the documents say.
Mr. Dole, who said he first took an interest in Taiwan as a senator when Congress was considering the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act that established the current policy, has lobbied for the Taiwanese government for nearly two decades. 

In a letter in January, Mr. Dole laid out the terms of his agreement to represent the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, Taiwan’s unofficial embassy, including a $25,000 monthly retainer.
That letter and the document detailing Mr. Dole’s work for the Taiwanese were filed at the Justice Department, which requires foreign agents to register and detail their efforts at influencing the United States government.
Among his duties, the letter said, were helping Taiwan achieve its “military goals” and obtain membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation trade deal that Mr. Trump has promised to withdraw from. 

Mr. Dole was also to arrange for Taiwanese officials to meet with members of Congress from both parties and arrange access to Republican presidential contenders and to the party’s national convention.
The government of Taiwan has retained a powerful bipartisan constellation of former members of Congress to promote its interests in Washington. 

Richard A. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat and former House majority leader, also signed a $25,000-a-month contract to represent the Taipei office this year, as did Thomas A. Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, a former Senate majority leader, in 2015.
Mr. Trump’s transition team has sent mixed messages about the call with Ms. Tsai, whether it was meant as a mere gesture of good will or a provocation aimed at drawing Taiwan closer to the United States as a way of challenging China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province.
Vice President Mike Pence suggested in the days after the call that Mr. Trump had merely been affording a courtesy to another “democratically elected leader.” 

But in a series of Twitter posts on Sunday, Mr. Trump suggested a more confrontational motive, criticizing China for unfair trade practices and aggressive military moves.
“Did China ask us if it was OK” to take such actions, Mr. Trump asked rhetorically, appearing to counter suggestions that the United States must ask Beijing’s permission to communicate with Taiwan.
Several senior advisers to Mr. Trump have long advocated stronger United States support for Taiwan, arguing that it would help to counterbalance Beijing’s influence. 

Alexander Grey and Peter Navarro, Trump transition advisers, wrote an article last month in Foreign Policy branding the Obama administration’s treatment of Taiwan “egregious.”
Over the weekend, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said that Edward J. Feulner, a member of Mr. Trump’s transition team and the former president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that supports stronger ties with Taiwan, had played a crucial role in bringing about the call with Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Feulner met with Ms. Tsai in Taiwan in October.
Even before the phone call, Taiwan had succeeded in accomplishing important goals with Mr. Trump’s team. 

At their convention in Cleveland in July, Republicans adopted a platform that for the first time enshrined the “six assurances” to Taiwan made by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, including that the United States would not set a date for ending arms sales to the Taiwanese.

Two Chinas Policy

China and Donald Trump
By Michael Curtis

Rarely in history has a ten-minute phone call, like that on Friday December 2, 2016, been credited with raising fears of new tensions in international politics. 

According to the New York Times on December 4, 2016, the “protocol shattering” phone call between president Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive party, is “rattling Asia.”
Irrespective of whether the telephone call was well planned for tactical reasons, orchestrated by former Senator Bob Dole, or a diplomatic gaffe on the part of Trump, or a clever political overture by Tsai Ing-wen to strengthen relations with the U.S., or simply a polite message of congratulations to Trump on his victory, the New York Times, the mainstream media, and the political correct have erred once again in their assessment of a minor event.
So far, the anticipated shaking, rattling, and rocking in Asia has not materialized. 

Instead, a short, polite congratulatory courtesy call from a democratically elected head of a friendly political entity has been transformed into high drama, drawing attention to China policy. 

The short phone call did not ignite any activity except in the U.S. mainstream media.

Political language, George Orwell asserted, is designed to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. 

One can ask wherefore is the telephone call from Tsai different from the many other similar calls that Donald Trump received from leaders in the world, including Communist China and Russia.
At the outset two things are important. 

Since the U.S. Constitution says nothing to the contrary, the critics of the Tsai phone call, whatever their political views, should acknowledge that U.S. citizens, even a president, have a perfect right to talk to whoever they like. 

American citizens certainly do not need approval of the Communist China regime, or even the New York Times, before making or taking phone calls. 

Critics of the Tsai phone call should explain why this call is different from all the other congratulatory calls to Trump from leaders around the world, including Communist China and Russia.
Trump was not naïve in accepting the call and it was not a gaffe, but rather a signal of political goodwill towards Taiwan. 

It was certainly not as purposeful as the actions by Barack Obama in reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba severed in January 1961, exchanging embassies, restoring commercial flights, negotiating agreements on a number of issues, or aiming to promote a “democratic,” prosperous, and stable Cuba.
The second matter is that Trump addressed Tsai as “president” of Taiwan, thus indicating recognition of Taiwan as a distinct political entity and independent state. 

Does this suggest a change in U.S. policy and stronger support for Taiwan or simply recognition of the legal position of Tsai?
At the core of the issue is the definition of the “true” China. 

Taiwan was founded by the Kuomintang (KMT), the Chinese nationalist party led by Chiang Kai-shek that had ruled the Asian mainland until overthrown by the Communist party led by Mao Zedong. 

The KMT fled and established their own political system, now a country of 23 million with its own political and military structure. 

The inherent dilemma is that all recognize Taiwan is a province of China, but there is no unanimity on what is China. 

Is the concept of “One China” fact or fiction?
For the U.S. the issue seemed to be resolved in 1979 with the agreement between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong and Deng Xioping that recognized China as one sole legitimate country. and the U.S. had no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. 

The Communist People’s Republic was recognized as the official country while Taiwan, that had held the seat in the UN for “China” until 1971, was named as the Republic of China. 

Official ties between the U.S. and Taiwan were abrogated.
What is important is that the U.S. does not specifically or legally approve the policy of “One China.” It simply accepts that the two sides, China and Taiwan, agree on the concept. 

Moreover, the 1979 Agreement upholds the right of the U.S. to maintain cultural, commercial, and unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan. 

President Trump must do this and more.
Those relations are ongoing with Taiwan, which is now the U.S.’s 9th largest trading partner. 

In 2016 the U.S. exported $21,344 million of products to Taiwan and imported $32,580 million, a deficit for the U.S. of $11,236 million. 

The U.S. sold Taiwan $12 billion in arms, and by the 1970 agreement, the U.S. is obliged to helped Taiwan to defend itself. 

After early years of authoritarianism, Taiwan can be said to have become part of the democratic world. as was shown by the first direct presidential elections in 1996.
The Trump administration has to deal with the yearning of Taiwan to be recognized as a sovereign political state. 

Taiwan already has diplomatic relations with 22 countries, though they are small and developing ones, and has signed 23 agreements with China to which it sends 40% of its exports. 

Trump must consider adding the U.S. to the 22 countries.
Throughout his electoral campaign, Trump underscored his criticism of China, its currency manipulation, and trade sanctions. 

His promise was to “bring back jobs” from China. 

A persistent theme was the threat of imposing a 45% tariff on Chinese goods. 

The fundamental problem is that China, with 1.3 billion people, is now the world’s largest economy and expanding, though with variations, at 6.5-7 % a year. 

Its GDP is over $20 trillion, while that of the U.S. is $18.5 trillion. 

However, Chinese GDP per capita is $15,000, while that of the U.S. is $57,000.
Trump must face reality. 

China is the world’s largest trading power: 130 countries have China as their most important bilateral trading partner, more than double the figure for the U.S. 

Moreover, the U.S. is the world’s largest debtor while China is a creditor, the largest buyer of U.S. debts, and holds 10 % of U.S. national debt, and has largest foreign currency reserves. 

The U.S imports 18% of China’s exports.
China is militarily and technologically strong, with its aircraft carriers, strategic bombers, cyber weapons, fighters, intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launched ballistic missiles, and powerful fast supercomputers.
Trump has made overwhelmingly clear U.S. economic problems of trade with China, its currency manipulation, and military buildup. 

Already he suggests tariff on goods imported from U.S. companies located abroad, particularly in China and Mexico. 

Trump’s main argument has been to bring back jobs from China.
Trump must counter the Chinese challenges, especially in the South China Seas and the Spratly Islands, more than 100 small islands or reefs, 500 miles from the Chinese mainland, where China is building and expanding reefs to provide radar and military facilities, and where it claims almost all the potentially resource rich waters.
Trump must also consider a shift in diplomatic relations with Taiwan, strengthening its democratic character, and also expanding the U.S. Navy in the East and South China Seas. 

This will take more than a 10-minute phone call.

Two Chinas Policy

Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole arranged for the phone call between Trump and Tsai
By Keoni Everington

Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole.

Former Republican senator and presidential nominee Bob Dole arranged the phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, according to a transition official with the Trump team who spoke with the Wall Street Journal.
Last Friday, President-elect Donald Trump engaged in a stunning and unprecedented phone call with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking with nearly 40 years of diplomatic protocol and instantly riling China's leaders. 

There was much conjecture as to Trump's intentions in taking the call from Tsai and who actually initiated the call. 

In a tweet after the call took place, Trump said "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!"
However, it has now become apparent that it was former Republican senator and 1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole who played a key role in setting up the phone call.
The Wall Street Journal contacted Dole about his role in setting up the meeting:
Mr. Dole, in an interview, said the law firm he is affiliated with does work with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., and that the firm played a role in arranging the phone call. 

“It’s fair to say that we may have had some influence,” Mr. Dole said.
Unlike what had previously been reported by many media outlets as a 10 minute phone call, the Journal reports that it was 12 minutes, with Trump stressing to Tsai that his top priority was the economy. 

Though Trump initially made it seem as though he was merely receiving what he described as a "congratulatory call," a source who spoke to the Journal also revealed that the meeting had in fact had been planned weeks in advance:
“The conversation was about regional stability,” said the person, adding the call was planned weeks in advance. 

"It marked the first of its kind since at least 1979, when the U.S. established formal relations with Beijing."
Tsai too had been planning for the call, with a prepared set of talking points and was surrounded by Taiwan's foreign minister, David Lee, as well as two top National Security Council officials and her spokesman, Alex Huang, according to the Journal.
In a recent 20-minute interview with VOA in Chinese, Stephen Yates, a deputy security advisor to former US vice president Dick Cheney and current chairman of the Idaho Republican Party, said that with his extensive experience in the Greater China region, he has been approached by the Trump team for advice and insights. 

He told the Journal that Tsai's name was on Trump's list of foreign leaders to contact by phone for at least a week saying, "To my knowledge, Taiwan was on that list early, and it took some time to arrange.”
Yates, who is now in the running for a post in Trump's administration, is currently on a trip to Taiwan "to meet and exchange ideas with old friends in Taiwan." 

There has been media speculation that he is planning to meet with major leaders of Taiwan's government, possibly including President Tsai Ing-wen, but he has yet to publicly acknowledge such reports.
According to media reports, Yates was a Mormon missionary in Taiwan in the 1980s, speaks fluent Mandarin and developed a close relationship with Taiwan while working at Heritage Foundation.