=UPDATED= MEDIAFAIL: Reuters Plays the Leaders of Two Democracies for Clickbait headlines

A golden dragon phoenix turkey thing.

NOPE: Reuters is still running the story as if it hadn't been outed for lying about it and as if there were no controversy.

UPDATE: Reuters has apologized for playing the President for clickbait. Just a 'misunderstanding'. Yes of course it was a set up:

In response to media queries, Lee said Reuters had submitted a list of questions in advance, but the one about a possible repeat of the telephone call between Tsai and Trump was not on the list.

...did Reuters mess with the US-Taiwan relationship? You bet....

He said Washington was concerned over Tsai’s comment about the possibility of calling Trump until the ministry provided them with a full transcript of the interview.

...luckily plenty of people in Washington saw what was going on. ....on to the original post...

++++++

Wow. Reuters one-two punched President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan and President Trump of the US, harmed Taiwan, possibly impacted US policy, possibly encouraged Xi of China to move whatever invasion plans he has forward... the ramifications of Reuters' creation of a sensationalist story are endless, and entirely negative.

Check out the clickbait title of the first half of this setup garbage:

Exclusive: Taiwan president says phone call with Trump can take place again

What did Tsai say? Reuters quotes her correctly in the full text of the article.

"We have the opportunity to communicate more directly with the U.S. government," Tsai told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

"We don't exclude the opportunity to call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the U.S. government's consideration of regional affairs."

The question of another call was a hypothetical from Reuters, not Tsai, and obviously intended to elicit a sensational answer that Reuters could sex up, as it actually did. Tsai could hardly answer this any other way. She could not have said "No, no, we won't accept another call opportunity" since she could not justify that either domestically or snub the US that way. So she carefully said: "It depends," the correct, polite, human answer.

Of course, she wasn't talking to people dealing in the same good faith she was.

Consider the other possibilities for a headline. Based on that exact same quote, Reuters could with the same logic have written:

Tsai may refuse to take another call from Trump

What a clickbait headline that would have made! Reuters really missed an opportunity there. Or

Possible second Trump-Tsai call depends on regional situation

....which is a precis of what Tsai said and would have been fairer reporting.

Despite its vile purpose, the Reuters piece did contain some hilarious moments:

The call angered Beijing because it fears contacts between Taiwan and government leaders would confer sovereignty on the island. Democratic Taiwan, self-ruled since 1949, has no interest in being ruled by autocratic China.

....if only contacts with US leaders could confer sovereignty! Many commenters on this Reuters piece missed the part at the bottom:

She tweeted congratulations to Trump minutes after he took office in January, and when asked if she might tweet him again, Tsai said: "Might not be a bad idea. I'll give some thought to it."

Reuters was at it again subtly trolling her with another Trump-related hypothetical, apparently hoping that a tweet from her would send Trump into another frenzy of clickbait newsy tweets. She should refrain from further tweets about/to Trump. And further interviews with Reuters.

I guess in this age of shrinking news staffs, it is cheaper for news organizations to manufacture news than to go through the arduous and costly process of reporting it.

But withal, Reuters was really not interested in embarrassing Tsai, she was just the collateral damage of their set up of Trump, who got the same hypothetical question in his interview. In framing Trump's words, Reuters straight-up lied about what was said:

Trump, sipping a Coke delivered by an aide after the president ordered it by pressing a button on his desk, rebuffed an overture from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who told Reuters a direct phone call with Trump could take place again after their first conversation in early December angered Beijing.

China considers neighboring Taiwan to be a renegade province.

"My problem is that I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi," said Trump. "I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation. So I wouldn’t want to be causing difficulty right now for him.

"So I would certainly want to speak to him first."

The part in blue was what everyone reacted to, and it certainly would be a departure from previous US policy, if Trump ever did what he said he would do.  Emily Rauhala at WaPo said the same thing:

As is often the case with the U.S. president, it is not clear whether Thursday’s comments amount to a change in policy or are just another off-the-cuff remark.

But even as he was speaking, US officials were in Taiwan (below) talking to officials there entirely without consulting with Xi. Many observers pointed out that Trump was referring to the N Korean crisis -- note the words "right now" and not foreclosing the possibility or indicating that at all future points, Xi would be consulted. Overreading Trump's remarks for clickbait is irresistable.

No, the part of the Reuters interview that is vile is bolded in red above. Read Tsai's comments, and then ask yourself: can the reader honestly say that Tsai "made an overture"? No reasonable person could say that Tsai "made an overture". Indeed, she went out of her way not to. Remember, Tsai was not actively bringing up the subject, but responding to a hypothetical.

Reuters simply sexed it up, and that action of sexing it up is strong evidence that Reuters paired these interviews on successive days to generate just such a situation, taking advantage of Trump's mouth. At what possible costs to the situation in E Asia, no one can say at the moment.

Reuters even timed it so the news would come out on Friday, meaning that there could be no State Department/Administration response and it would dominate the news cycle over the weekend. Brilliant.

(Why report that Trump was sipping a Coke he got via a button? Why is that worth mentioning? Is that news? It's just a gratuitous hack at Trump, noise whose only purpose is to register the reporter's contempt.)

It's not that Trump says stupid things. That's a given, he's been doing it since day 1 and no one ever expected different. Note that US policy remains largely unchanged: working around the edges to give Taiwan as much space as it can. This week AIT head James Moriarty was in town to talk about getting Taiwan more space in international organizations... and Adm Harry Harris of PACOM said before the House Armed Services Committee that any attempt by China to use force to annex Taiwan would be unacceptable (Chinese)(Video of his testimony). It's important to separate what Trump says from what is happening...

No, the problem is that behind Trump there is no team to issue clarifications, keep policy on track, manage Trump, and calm everyone down. WaPo's Josh R reports that Trump's Asia team has not been put in place.

But none of Trump’s top officials had deep Asia experience before joining the administration, and inside their departments nearly all of the Asia-related political-appointee positions remain unfilled or staffed by temporary civil servants. There is no appointed assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, no assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs and zero Trump ambassadors to Asia are in place. Only one, nominee for Beijing Terry Branstad, has even been submitted for consideration to the Senate.

This is an unmitigated disaster, and things are only going to get worse.

Note: Nelson Report commentary below....
________________
Daily Links:

• Migrant workers in Taiwan say no to brokers and call for government run system. Recall that last time someone introduced legislation to alter this system, they were threatened by gangsters. There's tons of money in human trafficking. 
• Gazillionaire Terry Gou of Honhai visits the White House, fueling speculation that he might run on the KMT ticket in 2020. The reason his name has been floated is simple: the KMT might not have the money to fund the kind of campaigns they've run in the past -- but Gou does.
• Good news for English teachers: the legislature is hearing calls to make English the official second language.
• The new infrastructure bill will go back for another round of meetings. The KMT is well aware of how much its local clout depends on feeding and watering its patronage networks with infrastructure money, and will fight to the death.
• Beijing takes aim at Taiwanese young. I hope they study in China, it will teach them how un-Chinese they are. As a sharp observer pointed out on Twitter, there is nothing new here in these supposed new policies. 
• Memory chip exports up. 
• Meteor shower peaks May 6

Nelson Report commentary on this is below. Click READ MORE:

Who Caved?

A group of Vietnamese workers chill at 7-11 with Bar beer and a movie.

STATUS QUO ANTE: US has one China policy, which recognizes Beijing as the government of China but does not include Taiwan in China.

1. In Nov of 2016 Trump receives briefings and explanations about Taiwan-US-China triangle as call with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is set up. Trump becomes aware that Taiwan is sensitive topic and China is unduly sensitive to criticisms and attacks, and aware of importance of US one China policy.

2. Dec 2, 2016. Trump and Tsai talk by phone, earth veers from its orbit, sun rises in west, sea and land change places.

3. Week of Dec 5. Trump attacks China for its South China Sea policy and exchange rate manipulations in Twitter outburst. This is pure trolling, designed to test how sensitive China is, and confirms that it is indeed a sensitive state, to which much attention is paid. He learns how easy it is to troll China.

4. Jan 17: “Everything is under negotiation, including ‘one China’,” Trump says. TROLL.

5. Storm ensues. Media and commentariat: ZOMG THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!

6. Xi-Trump phone call on Feb 9th. Trump affirms "our one China" policy, indicating that he/advisors understand nuances. Media portrays this as caving to China, suggests Xi got better of Trump, etc.

7. Trump wins the trademark case in China in November. 90 days pass with no objection, meaning that the trademark becomes his. Feb 14th, days after phone call, trademark is formally awarded to Trump. Since negotiations must have been going on for a while, the China government certainly knew there would be a call. If there had been no call, would an objection have suddenly appeared? (Kevin Drum at Mojo). Many observers wondered why Trump had taken so long to call Xi... every day he waits is one day closer to that 90 day deadline, with China not wanting to tick him off by having an objection appear.

8. Return to STATUS QUO ANTE. US still has one China policy which recognizes Beijing as the government of China but does not include Taiwan in China. Cost to Trump: zero. Cost to US: zero.

Oh, but Trump now has unchallenged trademark.

Who caved?

UPDATE: China violated own law to give Trump trademark?
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Trump concedes on "one China" + LINKS

A train enters Dawu station in southeastern Taiwan.

Trump really needs to stop calling leaders in East Asia. I'd rather be biking than writing on this stuff. But just before I left for another sojourn on the east coast with a group of close friends, the news came that Trump had made an about-face on one China.

*sigh*

The NYTimes here says...

President Trump told President Xi Jinping of China on Thursday evening that the United States would honor the “One China” policy, reversing his earlier expressions of doubt about the longtime diplomatic understanding and removing a major source of tension between the United States and China since shortly after he was elected.

The NYT report does not make clear what Trump's statement said, that the US would honor "our" one China policy (not China's). That little word, as many people pointed out, was highly significant, since it shows that the US is going to maintain policy continuity. The US one China policy does not include Taiwan in China.

It was also important for another reason. It was rather painfully obvious that Trump would "cave" on one China. For example, J Michael Cole observed a while back:

But one thing is certain: the likelihood that the United States will scuttle “one China” is next to nil, as such a policy goes against even what the more creative (and pro-Taiwan) of Trump’s advisers on Taiwan and China, people like John Bolton, have argued over the years.

What that "our" signaled was that people who understand the policy were in charge, in the background, of maintaining it. I doubt very much Trump himself insisted on the "our" -- that had to be inserted by someone who knew what he was doing. The situation thus appears to be as I argued before...

....not much will change because Trump is surrounded by people who will keep policies that help Taiwan in place and expand around the edges where they can.

...wise hands steering Taiwan policy? Good to see.

The Economist observed that Trump's one China pleased Taiwan as well. The Xi-Trump call also raised another issue, as Trump materially benefited from it, apparently, in violation of the US Constitution.
__________________
Catching up links:

• Legislative delegation visits the US
• Latest Global Taiwan brief
• Jeff Kingston on 2-28
• One of the KMT supporting orgs in DC calls for the US to sell Taiwan advanced fighters. Hilarious, since the KMT opposed such sales during the Chen years and the Ma Administration kept the military budget lower than promised. 
• Foreigners liking Taiwan stocks...
• Chris Horton argues that Taiwan's role in APEC more important than ever
• WSJ: A Trump agenda for Taiwan
• Forbes on missile coercion against Taiwan
• Gangsters and now KTV hostesses recruited to fill KMT ranks. The wife of the boss of the famed Golden Jaguar KTV ran for the legislature for the KMT a few years ago. Looks like someone is trying to pack the party membership just in time for the Chairmanship election.
• Lots of attention to the news that the US is thinking of using uniformed marines for the new AIT office out in Neihu.
• China's attempt to punish Taiwan by withholding tourists failed.
• INDIA: Cole: India brushes off Beijing's complaints about Taiwan's women delegation visit to India. India says it ain't political. India adopts strategy to keep Taiwan engaged.
• Good piece by Bill Kazer arguing that Taiwan needs to hear Trump say "democracy"
• A by the numbers piece in the National Interest studded with misunderstandings about the coming flashpoint of Taiwan, etc. You know the drill
• Taipower must remove nuke waste from Lanyu within nine years
• AUDIO of GTI's conference on Trump's Taiwan policy
• WWII Japanese pilot worshipped in Taiwan
• WAY COOL: Nushu, the Chinese script only women could read
• NEW BOOK: Taiwan's social movements under Ma Ying-jeou

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Another Trumpfest *sigh*

A duck enclosure. The white ones are farmed. They don't fly away because they are too fat -- ducks are like dogs, we were told, they eat and eat. The black ones are wild visitors living the easy life.

So much headache this week. I think I'm going to invest all my retirement funds in tranquilizers, since everyone in DC must be taking them by the handful now...

Yeah, hopefully Trump will start trolling on another topic, so I don't have to write any more posts like this and can go back to writing on domestic events.

Wilfred Chan, whose stuff is excellent, observed what I have been saying publicly and privately in a Tweet:

Suggestion: whenever you feel rising panic about a China thing, look to see how Taiwanese people are reacting. They've dealt with it decades

Watching these panics happen periodically is very instructive in maintaining that Zen-like calm in the face of hyperventilation in the Commentariat. I also recommend dogs, whiskey, and bicycling...

...my very sharp man Solidarity, now studying in the US and new proud father (congrats!) also tweetly observed:

If I were Zhongnanhai I'd be wondering how else to take advantage of Western media liking me better than they do the incoming US president

I made a mistake, actually. When I pointed out that the media was teaching China what topics were safe for it to be tough on, I forgot that it was also teaching our future President what topics were sensitive enough for successful trolling.

As for Trump's most recent remarks, J Michael Cole said it in one China, Many Trumps:

But one thing is certain: the likelihood that the United States will scuttle “one China” is next to nil, as such a policy goes against even what the more creative (and pro-Taiwan) of Trump’s advisers on Taiwan and China, people like John Bolton, have argued over the years. In Bolton’s case, his argument has been that dual recognition might be possible, albeit under a “one China” framework. The logic behind this is that there is nothing in the United States’ “one China” policy that prevents dual recognition. (Whether such an argument would be palatable to Beijing or Taipei is a different question altogether.)

This is exactly right: not much will change because Trump is surrounded by people who will keep policies that help Taiwan in place and expand around the edges where they can. Whenever there is policy change, there is pushback from opponents who are powerful and heavily invested in the current framework. Leaders might make noises about revolutionary change, but change usually occurs incrementally, if it happens at all.

You're just watching that pushback against Trump's possible future policies in realtime...

A couple of small things... many pieces contended that Taiwan was a "core interest" of China. The is one of the ways the media noise helps conceal what is actually going on, supporting Beijing inadvertently. Taiwan is not a core interest of China. Let's spell this out for future reference:

Taiwan is not a core interest of China. Annexing Taiwan without interference from other Powers is the core interest at stake here.

PRC nationalism has now invested Taiwan with deep expansionist significance -- two generations have been brainwashed. It will be difficult for the PRC to decouple itself from this train. Let's hope it can find a way, but in the meantime... keep talking to the individual Chinese you meet.

The overreading into Trump's remarks (On video) was comical. Many commentators over-read "I heard the call was coming probably an hour or two before" to mean he never knew about the call, but the comment was not meant in so literal a way. Much of the noise is driven by the media's profound anti-Trump bias. And no, I am not defending Trump (pointing out media bias is not the same as defending Trump). Nor am I a neo-con (now that's comedy -- I'm so pink there's a shoot-on-sight order on me in Saudi Arabia).

Is Taiwan going to be used as a bargaining chip? It some ways it always has been, but no, the Trump Administration isn't going to sell Taiwan for oil drilling rights for Exxon or for lower tariffs on US goods or for a different currency policy. Could things get worse? Well, the NY Times sententiously warned us that Bad Things Could Happen. Salvatore Babones laffed:

The NYT warns that China could buy Airbus, trade with North Korea, burn coal, snub Taiwan, and trade with Iran. So?

Things China is doing anyway. Ye gods.

Yes, our newspapers are always pointing out what China could do to the US. We never hear what could happen in return. A tit for tat trade war helps no one, which is why it won't happen.

Meanwhile, Trump's foreign policy trolling is a success: that much less attention and space in the mainstream media is given to his Administration picks....
______________
More Links:

• DON'T MISS WaPo: Steven Goldstein explains why Trump's words are a problem, and even correctly and openly states the US one China policy. Good stuff.
• National Interest: Cole on one China, many Trumps
• TIME: Trump's one China doubting sparks fear and hope in Taiwan
• WashTimes: Tkacik on Five Myths about the US one China policy 
• WaPo: China paper says Trump ignorant as baby
• NYTimes: What China could do
• Vox: Trump is using Taiwan as bargaining chip
• Brookings: Obama asia chief Jeff Bader on Trump-China-US
• QZ: What China could do
• Cole: The Call: domestic side
• IBTimes: One China policy not for trading
• National Interest: The Call heralds new Asia policy 
• SCMP: Trump = wild card, previous presidents got more "pragmatic"
• Video: Bill Sharp kicks ass on tourists and other stuff 
• Video: Trump's remarks on Fox
• Audio: Shelly Rigger on Trump-China-US
• Audio: Bonnie Glaser on Trump-China-US
• Foreign Policy: Another call for Taiwan to be Taiwan
• Bloomberg: Japan watches uneasily
• NYTimes: Obama says Taiwan "close ally" of the US
• TT: US includes Taiwan in military bill, upgrade of relations
• BBC: (here for completeness)
• National Review: Taiwan is America's BFF, and Trump was right on phone call
• LATimes: Taiwan is trending, and Taiwanese-Americans have mixed feelings
• The Guardian: Donald Trump... nah, forget it. It appears Simon Tisdall knows even less about US China policy than Donald Trump. 
• Chinese Foreign Ministry: China official met with Flynn to exchange views
• Foreign policy: Tsai Ing-wen in their Global Thinkers. 
• DOMESTIC
• Banyan: Taiwan debates gay marriage
• Hong Kong independence activists assaulted by pro-China groups on visit to Taiwan
• Japan Times: The excellent Jeff Kingston on the gay marriage culture war
• Conscription to end in 2018
• Slow grow over next 2 years forecasted
• Airport MRT line to be operational.... any minute now.
• Tsai urges bilateral trade deal with US. Yes, please

Excerpt from Nelson Report and State Department Briefing on this mess: click on Read More

The Bored One China Framework

Drawing a line in the sand.


A bunch of more or less KMTers offered a "Broad One China Framework" this week which the media presented as if it were a major policy proposal rather than a KMT-inspired distraction. The Taipei Times bought into the "bipartisan" propaganda media narrative. I guess I shouldn't be surprised... (Taipei Times):

Seven politicians and academics, headed by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德), yesterday unveiled the “five principles” of a proposal, named the “broad one-China framework” (大一中原則), that they say could resolve the domestic political divide and stalemated cross-strait relations.

The group crosses party lines, and includes former Mainland Affairs Council vice chairman Chen Ming-tung (陳明通), who served under the DPP administration, and former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起), who served under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

Shih said the five principles include “respecting the present ‘status quo’ and not changing it unilaterally,” adding that the “status quo” is that the Republic of China (ROC)  and People’s Republic of China (PRC) have coexisted since 1949, with bilateral relations seeing a gradual transformation from “fighting with each other” to “governing separately.”

.....

Both sides should promise not to use military force or sign any military agreement that is unfavorable to the other side, and both should be allowed to join international organizations, such as the UN, and establish normal state relations with other countries, he said.

The group doesn't cross party lines. Shih Ming-te, who is nearly always presented in the media as a former DPP Chairman rather than current KMT supporter, left the DPP (or was thrown out) around 2000 and has worked for the KMT ever since. He and two other DPP turncoats, Sisy Chen and Hsu Hsin-liang, along with some far rightist KMTers, formed the Mountain Alliance, which followed the KMT line. Shih ran against the DPP in elections as a distraction and vote sink for pan-Green votes. After heading up the Nationalist faux "anti-corruption" protests against Chen Shui-bian, Shih vanished into obscurity, only to seek the limelight again by accusing the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen of being gay. He gives every indication of being a KMT tool. The media, locally and internationally, generally ignores that to make the narrative more interesting than the sordid reality of petty betrayal and self-seeking that Shih appears to represent.

Simply note the presence of Ma's former right-hand man and, according to some, Rasputin-style alter ego Su Chi, and you'll know what's going on. ADDED: One longtime observer remarked that Su Chi's association with Shih Ming-te in this endeavor is actually a signal of how marginalized Su has become.

That said, the key here is the little poison pill. I've bolded in the last paragraph I've excerpted, which would forbid Taiwan from making alliances with Japan, the US, and other powers threatened by Chinese expansionism. Cute, eh?

In any case, as the TT reported today, the idea is vanishing faster than thin fog on a summer morning...

_______________
Daily Links:

• Save the Taiwan White Dolphins: recommendations from latest meeting
• MRT suspect's parents apologize. Ritual apologies are important here. 
• India's Modi to follow a "Look East" policy that may lead to better links with Taiwan

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Test your US Taiwan policy knowledge

Love this spot. Past it is nothing but gorgeous views.

Noted political scientist John Mersheimer recently gave a talk on Taiwan's future in a world where China's growth has never stopped and China is now a hyper-power. The talk is a fantasy and entertaining as far as it goes, but it contains this statement...

...The “Anti-­‐Secession Law,” which China passed in 2005, says explicitly that “the state shall employ non-­‐peaceful means and other necessary measures” if Taiwan moves toward de jure independence. It is also worth noting that the United States does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country, and according to President Obama, Washington “fully supports a one-­‐China policy.”

Anyone spot the apparent error? Click READ ME below for the answer.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Globe and Mail, 1982

A friend sent this around, in case you were wondering what the official US stance on Taiwan is....

The Globe and Mail (Canada)
July 19, 1982 Monday
AROUND THE WORLD China warns Shultz
BYLINE: GAM
LENGTH: 82 words
DATELINE: Peking CHINA

PEKING - China told U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz yesterday that the Reagan Administration would sabotage Sino-U.S. relations if it bowed to pressure from Washington's Taiwan lobby. The official People's Daily newspaper accused Mr. Shultz of contradicting himself during his Senate confirmation hearings last week, quoting him as saying that the United States never formally recognized Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, but as acknowledging at the same time that there was only one China.

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!