Opinion | Wise words in short supply as Trump, Xi and Tsai get off on the wrong foot in 2019

As if it wasn’t sad enough that Christmas was banned in parts of China, the most powerful man in the free world had to ruin a seven-year-old’s Christmas. And “peace on earth, goodwill to men” is a message lost on Beijing, Taipei and Washington, to judge by other developments.

On New Year’s Eve, US President Donald Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which includes a section reaffirming the US’ commitment to sell arms to Taiwan – which is exactly the button to push to get China to go ballistic.

Over in Taipei, although President Tsai Ing-wen was still smarting from the disastrous election in November, she felt compelled to add fuel to the fire started by Trump. In a bit of grandstanding on New Year’s Day, she gave Beijing a lesson about handling cross-strait relations and respecting an electorate’s choices. The Democratic Progressive Party’s defeat should not be taken to mean the Taiwanese were “choosing to give up our sovereignty”, she said.

The significance of raising hell on the 40th anniversary of China’s landmark statement, in which it declared an end to artillery bombardment of Taiwan, should not be missed. These were not gestures of goodwill. Unsurprising, President Xi Jinping responded by urging Taiwan to accept a Hong Kong-style “one country, two systems” framework and reminding Taipei that Beijing would not abandon the use of force.