WASHINGTON

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday tweeted out that he had spoken by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. It was the first conversation between the island's leader and either a president or incoming president of the U.S. since America officially cut its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979.
The phone call and subsequent tweets may be a hint that Trump intends to gain the upper hand on Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of "one China," in economic diplomacy.
But perhaps not. Since the U.S. disconnected its diplomatic link with Taiwan, Washington has maintained an outward recognition of Beijing's "one China" policy. After the phone call, the Twittersphere and U.S. punditry exploded in wonderment of whether Trump knew that he had just interrupted a delicate, decades-old diplomatic Kabuki.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump's former campaign manager, later on Friday went on CNN to put that question to rest. The President-elect, she said, is "well aware of what U.S. policy has been" on Taiwan.
During the election campaign, Trump blamed China for taking Americans' jobs. He called Beijing a "currency manipulator" and said he would raise tariffs on imports from China to 45%. He never hesitated to show his disdain for the country. Neither did he ever speak of the "one China" policy or about the China-Taiwan relations.
By tweeting about his chat with Tsai, Trump appears to be telling Beijing that he wants some concessions on the jobs front, whatever those might be.
Although Trump lost the popular vote, he gained enough support in a large, hollowed-out corridor of the northeastern United States known as the Rust Belt to pull out what is called an Electoral College victory.
Much of his support appears to come from white voters fearful of dropping out of the middle class; their main concern is employment.
If Trump's Republican party is to win the midterm congressional elections in 2018, it is essential that Trump keeps these voters happy.
But he is walking a tightrope. China's economy is no longer the mighty engine it had been up to the global financial crisis of 2008. If China's economy continues to lose steam, it could push not only all of Northeast Asia into turmoil but much of the rest of the world, too.

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