Global Studies Program Director, Dr. Dennis Hickey, and MGS faculty member. Dr. David Romano, have recently discussed the impact of Donald Trump’s election on U.S. policy in Asia and the Middle East.
Dr. Romano’s interview can be found at KurdPress news agency . Dr. Hickey’s interview, in Chinese, is here U. S. Election. For those who do not read Chinese, Dr. Hickey was kind enough to summarize:
First, Donald Trump is president-elect and that means he is NOT an official yet. Private citizen. We have a past president (Bill Clinton) who journeyed to Taiwan for a lucrative speech and met with then-President Chen Shui-bian. So, if a past president can go to Taipei and meet with the Taiwan leader, a future president should be able to take a phone call. Second, Mr. Trump doesn’t know a lot about the nuances of US policy in East Asia. During one of the GOP debates, for example, he claimed TPP was a plot by China. He only dropped the matter after Senator Rand Paul told him that China was not invited to join. So, its likely Mr. Trump did not understand the significance of answering that phone. Third, while Mr. Trump criticized PRC in the campaign, he did not praise Taiwan. In fact, he claimed it was stealing American jobs. So, it is unlikely this signals a change in US policy–although some elements in Taiwan might like to put that spin on it so as to boost Tsai Ing-when’s dismal approval ratings as president.