By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, JAN 9: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met Texas senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott yesterday during her stop-over in the US despite China’s pressure to call off the meeting.
“China’s consulate in a curious letter had asked us to uphold the ‘One-China policy’ and not meet the Taiwanese leader,” Cruz said, “The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves.”
However, the President-elect Donald Trump did not meet the Taiwanese President during her much-contested Houston stopover. Tsai is currently on her nine-day trip of diplomatic visit in Central America.
Soon after her landing in Houston, Chinese state-run daily, Global Times, in their editorial warned the President-elect that China would ‘take revenge’ if he fails to honor the one-China policy.
“Sticking to (the one China) principle is not a capricious request by China upon US presidents, but an obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific,” said the daily.
“If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining,” the daily said after President Tsai made her stopover at Houston.
The US President-elect’s phone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai and acknowledging her as the ‘President of Taiwan’ had irked China. Moreover, Trump’s comment over one-China policy has also ruffled some feathers in the politburo.
