Read on Twitter
Couple things going on here:
1) Unlike the 2016 Tsai-Trump call, this might be the most direct congratulations we'll see between Taiwan and the U.S. (Replace Tsai with Taiwan's de facto ambassador, speaking not to Biden but to his foreign policy advisor @ABlinken.) https://twitter.com/bikhim/status/1327768390094778368
1) Unlike the 2016 Tsai-Trump call, this might be the most direct congratulations we'll see between Taiwan and the U.S. (Replace Tsai with Taiwan's de facto ambassador, speaking not to Biden but to his foreign policy advisor @ABlinken.) https://twitter.com/bikhim/status/1327768390094778368
2) The replies to @bikhim's tweet questioning Biden's win show the extent to which disinformation about the U.S. election has spread overseas.
My colleagues @emilyrauhala & @LovedayM had a good story about how that's becoming an extreme problem elsewhere: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/qanon-conspiracy-global-reach/2020/11/12/ca312138-13a5-11eb-a258-614acf2b906d_story.html
My colleagues @emilyrauhala & @LovedayM had a good story about how that's becoming an extreme problem elsewhere: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/qanon-conspiracy-global-reach/2020/11/12/ca312138-13a5-11eb-a258-614acf2b906d_story.html
3) @gerryshih had an excellent story leading up to Election Day capturing the jitters Taiwan had about a Biden administration, though (on the record) Tsai and Biden officials went to great pains to emphasize they would support one another. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/biden-china-election-taiwan-obama/2020/10/30/44e55488-0868-11eb-8719-0df159d14794_story.html
4) This quote from @kharisborloff has been on my mind since: "Tsai has been glad to take what the Trump administration has given her, but she hasn't put all her eggs in the Republican basket. If anything, she's been the most stable corner of the U.S.-PRC-Taiwan triangle."
5) Biden's team did congratulate Tsai on her reelection in January via Twitter, one of the only Democratic primary candidates at the time to do so. https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1216056642313359361
6) Tsai returned the favor last week, which elicited a flood of comments filled with disinfo: https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1325228344720289792
7) Some of these replies are clearly trolls outside of Taiwan. But there IS a real disconnect b/t the U.S. left and pro-democracy folks in Taiwan, and a lot of their pushback to Biden is the result of whiplash after hearing for years some of the strongest support coming from GOP.
8) @TECRO_USA (Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington) has released a readout of the call between Hsiao and Blinken.
Have asked if there will be one from Biden’s camp.
Have asked if there will be one from Biden’s camp.
