"Tuesday, December 6, 2016
By Yuan-Ming Chiao, The China Post
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- President Tsai Ing-wen's strategic move to reach out to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump last Friday shocked the foreign affairs establishment in Washington and drew a formal protest from Beijing. In Taiwan, the political establishment's support of Tsai's move toward strengthening relations with its most important ally was almost unequivocal.
This mainstream support from elites belies a surprising lurch by Tsai in the last few weeks that has party loyalists worried.
Clear moves to make defining Taiwan's space in the geopolitical sphere among regional players her main policy focus cannot be seen as incidental. Tsai's efforts at pension reform, ameliorating corporate-labor disputes and legalizing marriage equality have been mired from the onset. Opening a front in foreign policy with cross-strait relations in stasis can give the perception of much needed momentum."
And while it remains to be seen if that fateful phone call will translate into a substantive sea change in U.S. orientations in cross-strait politics, like her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou, Tsai's governance may soon be top-heavy with external diplomacy that has not been build up with measured domestic support.
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