PRESIDENT TSAI PLANS US TRANSIT MEETINGS|傳下月蔡訪尼國 過境紐約與川普幕僚會晤

After President Tsai Ing-wen's high-profile phone call with US president-elect Donald Trump on Friday night, reports have surfaced that Tsai, who is scheduled to visit Central America next month, will likely meet with key staffers of the Trump administration during her transit in New York. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has just passed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. If the bill is also passed by the Senate this week, exchanges between senior Taiwanese and American military leaders will be able to take place in both countries. President Tsai Ing-wen's congratulatory call to US president-elect Donald Trump made international media headlines. Next month, President Tsai will be visiting Nicaragua and may transit in New York. The Tsai administration hopes to meet with Trump's White House Chief, Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus, or even Donald Trump himself. However, the Presidential Office did not elaborate on their plan and only said that they will announce their decision when it is made. Analysts said that the current Obama administration's attitude under China's strong protests will be a key point of observation. ==LIU FU-KUO, NCCU Institute of Int'l Relations== The US diplomatic policy is still under the direction of President Obama. After the phone call incident, the US State Department and White House will no doubt pay special attention to President Tsai's transit. On the same day President Tsai and Donald Trump had their phone conversation, the US House of Representative passed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act , which will allow exchanges between high-level military officials on both sides to take place either in the US or Taiwan. If the bill is passed by the Senate, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense or higher ranking officials, as well as active-duty officers, will be able to visit Taiwan. Taiwan's Minister of National Defense will also be able to visit the US. ==CHEN CHIEN-JEN, former minister of foreign affairs== John McCain is the Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Americans, including Trump, are not very happy with some of China's actions. Therefore, I think the bill will be passed. Of course, the implementation of the bill, if passed, still depends on their administrative discretion. Former minister of foreign affairs Chen Chien-jen said the US will still use Taiwan-US military exchanges as a strategy for its China policy. However, most believe that the picture for the US-Taiwan-China triangle relations will remain uncertain until some time into Trump's presidency. TRANSLATED BY：CHRISTINA LIU 總統蔡英文打電話恭賀美國下任總統川普當選，引發國際關注，傳出總統府規劃蔡英文下個月出訪尼加拉瓜，並希望過境美國紐約和即將擔任川普白宮幕僚長的共和黨全國委員會主席蒲博思等人會面，也不排除爭取直接會見川普。不過總統府對此沒有多說，只表示有任何確定消息會向各界公布，有學者分析美國現任歐巴馬政府在中國強硬抗議之下的態度，將是觀察重點。 ==政大台灣安全研究中心執行長 劉復國== 美國的外交政策 基本上 還是由這個白宮 就是歐巴馬總統在主導這個方向 我猜想就是說經過這個事件之後 美國的國務院還有美國的白宮 一定會對這個蔡總統的過境 會更加密切的這個關注 蔡英文和川普通電話的同一天，美國眾議院也通過2017年國防授權法案，其中包括開放美國軍方高層可以在美國和台灣、和我國軍方高層進行交流，本案將在這禮拜送交參議院表決，如果獲得通過就代表，未來美國國防部助理部長以上層級的官員、以及現役軍官可以來台訪問，我國國防部長也有機會前往美國華府訪問。 ==前外交部長 程建人== 這次當然是因為(共和黨)麥肯 參議院軍事委員會主席 而大陸的表現 有的地方 美國人不滿意 包括川普在裡面 所以這個案子的通過 我想大概是沒有問題 至於將來執行的話 美方一向是這樣 有時候法案通過 執行到什麼程度 有行政的裁量 曾任駐美代表的前外交部長程建人分析，雖然美國說不圍堵中國，但還是會在相關方面提出策略，台美軍事交流是其中之一。不過各界大多認為未來川普政府對台美中三角關係的態度，還是要等川普正式就職一段時間之後，才會有比較明確的方向。 記者 張志雄 陳信隆 台北報導