‘We’ll see’: Trump keeps door open to meeting Taiwan president

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US President-elect Donald Trump answers questions from reporters accompanied by wife Melania for a New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:17am, 1 Jan 2017

US president-elect Donald Trump has left open the possibility of meeting with Taiwan’s president if she visits the United States after he is sworn in on January 20.

In remarks to reporters upon entering a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump said, “We’ll see”, when pressed on whether he would meet Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president if she were to be in the United States at any point after he becomes president. Taiwan’s president will be in transit in Houston on January 7 and again will be in transit in San Francisco on January 13.

Beijing bristled when Trump, shortly after his November 8 victory, accepted a congratulatory telephone call from the Taiwan leader and has warned against steps that would upset the “one-China” policy China and the United States have maintained for decades.

Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the phone with US president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei in early December. Photo: Reuters

Talk of a stop-over in the United States by the Taiwan president has further rattled Washington-Beijing relations.

Chinese mainland President Xi Jinping on Saturday warned that Beijing would not soften its stance on territorial integrity, as the Taiwanese leader Tsai said the self-ruled island could face uncertainties in the months ahead given the change in the US administration.

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