Catching China Off Guard

By Dennis Wilder

Dennis Wilder served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for East Asian Affairs during President George W. Bush's second term.  He is currently a Research Fellow at Georgetown University's Initiative for U.S-China Dialogue on Global Issues.

The December 2nd phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is the first such communication between a U.S. president or president-elect and a Taiwanese president since 1979. This poses major questions about the foreign policy direction of the incoming administration and how far it is willing to deviate from established U.S. policy. The Cipher Brief spoke with former Senior Director for East Asian Affairs for President George W. Bush, Dennis Wilder, about the context of the phone call and its regional ramifications.

TCB: President-elect Donald Trump’s call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen deviates from decades of precedent for either a president or president-elect. Since then, Chinese officials have been in contact with the transition team. What do we know about Trump’s engagement with the U.S. State Department and intelligence bureaus?

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