Taiwan seeks clarity on Trump team policy amid Chinese pressure

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — As the world prepares for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Taiwan finds itself sandwiched between Washington and Beijing as it grapples with uncertainties about the outlook of U.S.-Taiwan relations and growing military pressure from China.

Trump has already picked several politicians known for their hawkish stances on China as potential nominees for his Cabinet, including Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, but analysts say the president-elect’s comments about Taiwan on the campaign trail and in recent interviews have not offered much clarity about how he might handle one of Washington’s most delicate relationships.

“We don’t know if [Trump] means it when he wants to return the United States to a more isolationist position,” said J. Michael Cole, a Taipei-based senior fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute.

During an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek in July, Trump said Taiwan should pay the United States for defense and compared U.S. military spending on Taiwan to an insurance policy.

“I know the people very well. Respect them greatly. They did take 100% of our chip business. I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,” he said.

In October, Trump pledged to impose additional tariffs on China if Beijing were to “go into Taiwan.”

“I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you, at 150% to 200%,” the President-elect said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

In his first post-election interview with NBC News on Dec. 8, Trump didn’t publicly say whether the U.S. would militarily defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

“I’d prefer that they don’t do it,” Trump said, adding that he has a “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that the two have been communicating since last month’s election.

During his time in office, U.S. President Joe Biden has on multiple occasions said his administration would defend Taiwan if it was attacked.

Not panicking, but concerned

Some Taiwanese residents worry about what they describe as a lack of clarity from the Trump administration.

“I’m slightly concerned about how Trump’s return to the White House might affect relations between the U.S. and Taiwan because he always prioritizes U.S. interests, which makes it hard to predict how his administration might form their Taiwan policies,” Angel Chi, a 28-year-old medical worker, told VOA in a recent interview on the streets of Taipei.

Others say while Trump’s position on Taiwan seems uncertain, they do not think his administration will reduce support for Taipei.

“I still have faith in the U.S. democratic system because he can’t decide everything by himself,” Christine Chiu, a 42-year-old accountant, told VOA.

The strong bipartisan support for Taiwan in Congress and some potential Trump Cabinet members’ track records on foreign policy could prevent U.S.-Taiwan relations from undergoing major changes during Trump’s second term, experts said.

“I don’t think there is panic in Taipei because we dealt with this situation before and we have confidence in our congressional support in the U.S.,” said Lai I-Chung, president of The Prospect Foundation, a Taiwan-based think tank made up of academics and government officials.

“The mood [in Taiwan] is we will be careful and watchful about the development, but we are not panicking,” he told VOA in an interview in Taipei.

Taiwan-US relations

In recent weeks, Taiwan’s government has been reaching out to Republican congressional leaders and Trump’s transition team. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te spoke with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on the phone during his first overseas trip to the Pacific region in early December. On that trip, Lai had stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam.

Additionally, two senior national security officials from Taiwan traveled to the U.S. last week to meet members of Trump’s transition team, hoping to establish ties before next month’s inauguration, Reuters news agency reported last on Dec. 19.

Cole said there should be enough “institutional resistance” in the U.S. government to prevent longstanding policies toward Taiwan from being abruptly altered.

During a regular press conference on Dec. 6, China’s Foreign Ministry responded to a question on Lai’s stopover in Guam and Hawaii and said, “No one should underestimate the firm resolve, will and ability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China’s military pressure campaign

As Taiwan tries to deepen its engagement with U.S. officials and the incoming Trump administration, China has been increasing military pressure on the island throughout 2024.

Beijing has conducted two blockade-style military exercises around Taiwan since Lai took office in May.

Last week, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Beijing deployed the largest number of naval and coast guard vessels to regional waters in almost three decades.

Apart from military exercises, China has increased pressure on Taiwan through a range of what are called gray zone operations, measures that involve irregular tactics but stop short of combat.

China’s use of its coast guard to intimidate and test Taiwan is one example of those gray zone tactics.

Beijing has repeatedly sent coast guard vessels to patrol waters near Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands since February. Kinmen and Matsu are closer to China than they are to the main island of Taiwan.

The Prospect Foundation’s Lai said China has some coast guard vessels that are similar in size to naval destroyers, making it harder for Taiwan’s coast guard to respond proportionately.

“It would be difficult for Taiwan to [deploy] naval vessels against the Chinese coast guard, and when Taiwan responds by deploying its coast guard forces, the vessels are smaller ships [while] the Chinese coast guard vessels are as big as navy ships,” he told VOA.

Countering China

To counter the growing military pressure and gray zone operations from Beijing, Taiwan has incorporated more unscripted, real-combat drills into its annual military exercises.

The island has also increased its defense budget in recent years, which is set to reach a new high of $19.74 billion dollars in 2025.

This year, Taiwan’s government also established a committee to help strengthen the island’s civil defense capabilities.

Cole said Taiwan still faces challenges in that regard.

“There is still quite a bit of resistance not only within the security apparatus and armed forces, which don’t like the idea of involving citizens in defense, the opposition parties have also sought to derail [relevant] plans and fundings,” he told VOA.

What may come next depends on Taiwan’s actions and Beijing’s assessment of Trump’s policies toward the island after he takes office in January.
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Poll: Exhausted by political news, Americans are tuning out

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New York — As a Democrat who immersed himself in political news during the presidential campaign, Ziad Aunallah has much in common with many Americans since the election. He’s tuned out. 

“People are mentally exhausted,” said Aunallah, 45, of San Diego. “Everyone knows what is coming and we are just taking some time off.” 

Television ratings — and now a new poll — clearly illustrate the phenomenon. About two-thirds of American adults say they have recently felt the need to limit media consumption about politics and government because of overload, according to the survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

Smaller percentages of Americans are limiting their intake of news about overseas conflicts, the economy or climate change, the poll says. Politics stand out. 

Election news on CNN and MSNBC was taking up too much of Sam Gude’s time before the election, said the 47-year-old electrician from Lincoln, Nebraska. “The last thing I want to watch right now is the interregnum,” said Gude, a Democrat and no fan of President-elect Donald Trump. 

Poll finds more Democrats than Republicans stepping away from news 

The poll, conducted in early December, found that about 7 in 10 Democrats say they are stepping back from political news. The percentage isn’t as high for Republicans, who have reason to celebrate Trump’s victory. Still, about 6 in 10 Republicans say they’ve felt the need to take some time off too, and the share for independents is similar. 

The differences are far starker for the TV networks that have been consumed by political news. 

After election night through Dec. 13, the prime-time viewership of MSNBC was an average of 620,000, down 54% from the pre-election audience this year, the Nielsen company said. For the same time comparison, CNN’s average of 405,000 viewers was down 45%. 

At Fox News Channel, a favorite news network for Trump fans, the post-election average of 2.68 million viewers is up 13%, Nielsen said. Since the election, 72% of the people watching one of those three cable networks in the evening were watching Fox News, compared to 53% prior to election day. 

A post-election slump for fans of the losing candidate is not a new trend for networks that have become heavily identified for a partisan audience. MSNBC had similar issues after Trump was elected in 2016. Same for Fox in 2020, although that was complicated by anger: many of its viewers were outraged then by the network’s crucial election night call of Arizona for the Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, and sought alternatives. 

MSNBC had its own anger issues after several “Morning Joe” viewers became upset that hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski visited Trump shortly after his victory last month. Yet while the show’s ratings are down 35% since Election Day, that’s a smaller drop than the network’s prime-time ratings. 

CNN points out that while it has been suffering in the television ratings, its streaming and digital ratings have been consistent. 

Will political interest rebound when Trump takes office? 

MSNBC can take some solace in history. In previous years, network ratings bounce back when the depression after an election loss lifts. When a new administration takes office, people who oppose it are frequently looking for a gathering place. 

“I’ll be tuning back in once the clown show starts,” Aunallah said. “You have no choice. Whether or not you want to hear it, it’s happening. If you care about your country, you have no choice but to pay attention.” 

But the ride may not be smooth. MSNBC’s slide is steeper than it was in 2016; and there’s some question about whether Trump opponents will want to be as engaged as they were during his first term. People are also unplugging from cable television in rates that are only getting more rapid, although MSNBC believes it has bucked this trend eating away at audiences before. 

The poll indicates that Americans want less talk about politics from public figures in general. After an election season where endorsements from celebrities like Taylor Swift made headlines, the survey found that Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of celebrities, large companies and professional athletes speaking out about politics. 

Still, Gude is among those discovering other ways to get news to which he does want to pay attention, including on YouTube. 

MSNBC is also in the middle of some corporate upheaval that raises questions about potential changes. Parent company Comcast announced last month that the cable network is among some properties that will spin off into a new company, which will give MSNBC new corporate leadership and cut its ties to NBC News. 

Advice for networks who want to see the viewers return 

Some of the Americans who have turned away from political news lately also had some advice for getting them engaged again. 

Gude said, for example, that MSNBC will always have a hard-core audience of Trump haters. But if the network wants to expand its audience, “then you have to talk about issues, and you have to stop talking about Trump.” 

Kathleen Kendrick, a 36-year-old sales rep from Grand Junction, Colorado, who’s a registered independent voter, said she hears plenty of people loudly spouting off about their political opinions on the job. She wants more depth when she watches the news. Much of what she sees is one-sided and shallow, she said. 

“You get a story but only part of a story,” Kendrick said. “It would be nice if you could get both sides, and more research.” 

Aunallah, similarly, is looking for more depth and variety. He’s not interested “in watching the angry man on the corner yelling at me anymore,” he said. 

“It’s kind of their own fault that I’m not watching,” he said. “I felt they spent all this time talking about the election. They made it so much of their focus that when the main event ends, why would people want to keep watching?”
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Координаційний штаб: табір для полонених з РФ регулярно відвідують представники Червоного Хреста

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«Вони мають зв’язок з зовнішнім світом, мають право надсилати листи, вибирати своїх представників для того, щоб вони зв’язувалися з адміністрацією»
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World Bank raises China’s GDP forecast for 2024, 2025

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The World Bank raised on Thursday its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2024 and 2025, but warned that subdued household and business confidence, along with headwinds in the property sector, would keep weighing it down next year.

The world’s second-biggest economy has struggled this year, mainly due to a property crisis and tepid domestic demand. An expected hike in U.S. tariffs on its goods when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January may also negatively impact China’s growth.

“Addressing challenges in the property sector, strengthening social safety nets, and improving local government finances, will be essential to unlocking a sustained recovery,” Mara Warwick, the World Bank’s country director for China, said.

“It is important to balance short-term support to growth with long-term structural reforms,” she said in a statement.

Thanks to the effect of recent policy easing and near-term export strength, the World Bank sees China’s gross domestic product growth at 4.9% this year, up from its June forecast of 4.8%.

Beijing set a growth target of “around 5%” this year, a goal it says it is confident of achieving.

Although growth for 2025 is also expected to fall to 4.5%, that is still higher than the World Bank’s earlier forecast of 4.1%.

Slower household income growth and the negative wealth effect from lower home prices are expected to weigh on consumption into 2025, the Bank said.

To revive growth, Chinese authorities have agreed to issue a record $411 billion in special treasury bonds next year, Reuters reported this week.

The figures will not be officially unveiled until the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, in March 2025, and could still change before then.

While the housing regulator will continue efforts to stem further declines in China’s real estate market next year, the World Bank said a turnaround in the sector was not anticipated until late 2025.

China’s middle class has expanded significantly since the 2010s, encompassing 32% of the population in 2021, but World Bank estimates suggest about 55% remain “economically insecure,” underscoring the need to generate opportunities for citizens.
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Trial moved for man accused in Trump assassination attempt in Florida

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA — A man accused of attempting to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump in South Florida won’t be tried until September, a federal judge ruled this week.

Ryan Routh’s trial will begin Sept. 8 instead of the previously scheduled Feb. 10, start date, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in an order released on Monday.

Routh, 58, a Hawaii resident, has pleaded not guilty.

Routh’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay the trial until no earlier than next December, saying they needed more time to review the evidence against him and decide whether to mount an insanity defense.

Routh owned 17 cellphones and numerous other electronic devices, and there are hundreds of hours of police body camera and surveillance videos that have been provided to the defense, Routh’s attorneys argued during a hearing two weeks ago in Fort Pierce, Florida.

In her order, Cannon said that she wanted to err on the side of providing more time given the seriousness of the allegations, but that starting the trial no earlier than December would be an excessive amount. A September trial date didn’t amount to an “unreasonable delay,” she said.

The judge said that any insanity defense or any request related to Routh’s mental competency must be made by early February. Any visit to the scene of the assassination attempt must be made by the end of February.

Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15 at his West Palm Beach country club. Before Trump came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Prosecutors say he left behind a note describing his intentions.

He was arrested a short time later driving on a nearby interstate.

Routh’s charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate carries a potential life sentence if he is convicted. Other charges include assaulting a federal officer and three firearms counts. He is being held without bail at the federal jail in Miami.

Routh’s arrest came two months after Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service acknowledged failings leading up to that shooting but has said security worked as it should have to thwart the potential Florida attack.
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Biden signs bill officially making the bald eagle the national bird of the US 

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Washington — The bald eagle, a symbol of the power and strength of the United States for more than 240 years, earned an overdue honor Tuesday: It officially became the country’s national bird. 

President Joe Biden signed into law legislation sent to him by Congress that amends the United States Code to correct what had long gone unnoticed and designate the bald eagle — familiar to many because of its white head, yellow beak and brown body — as the national bird. 

The bald eagle has appeared on the Great Seal of the United States, which is used in official documents, since 1782, when the design was finalized. The seal is made up of the eagle, an olive branch, arrows, a flag-like shield, the motto “E Pluribus Unum” and a constellation of stars. 

Congress, that same year, designated the bald eagle as the the national emblem, and its image appears in a host of places, ranging from documents and the presidential flag to military insignia and U.S. currency, according to USA.gov. 

But it had never been officially designated to be what many had just assumed it was — the national bird. 

The bald eagle is indigenous to North America. 
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