In 2016, Taiwan’s president called Donald Trump to congratulate him after he won the presidential election. Trump took the call, becoming the first American president or president-elect to speak to a Taiwanese leader in decades.
This time, after Trump won a second term in the White House, Taiwan was quick to deny reports that its current leader, Lai Ching-te, was seeking a similar phone call with the president-elect.
The contrast was telling.
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