, Columnist
Taiwan Found a Strange Bedfellow in Trump
Asia’s most liberal democracy did very well out of the U.S. president’s harsh policies toward China. That may come to an end.
Is the moment in the sun over?
Photographer: South China Morning Post/South China Morning PostThis article is for subscribers only.
One of the great ironies of the Trump presidency is that Asia’s most liberal democracy may be the biggest beneficiary of his very illiberal view of the world.
Taiwan’s moment in the Trump spotlight commenced even before he took office in January 2017 — when he held a historic phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen — and culminated on Saturday with the U.S. secretary of state ordering the removal of “complex internal restrictions to regulate our diplomats, service members, and other officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts.”