School. Depending on your age, it can have two completely different connotations. Either it can be a soul-crushing, homework-loading, un-fun machine to suck the life out of you, or it can be a carefree, nostalgic, back-in-my-day memory. See? Very different. Regardless of how you view school, there are three “stages” of being a student that you can easily recognize. 1 - Elementary School. These were the days where school was 75% naps and homework consisted of coloring pages. There were rules, and you, being the diligent student you were, obeyed. You raised your hand to speak and stowed away your lunch in the cubby - there was no fuss. Then you headed over to middle school. More freedom, but you were eager to bend the rules. Middle school was characterized by slipping notes to your best friends in social studies, and pretending to look for your lunch in your backpack for 20 minutes while you actually were texting. Fast forward to high school. You’re blatantly photo-copying homework assignments 2 minutes before its due and teachers are used to seeing phones in class.
Politics is the same way. Elementary school is representative of what politics should be. It should be clean; there are rules, and to be honest, you have no desire to break them. You don’t question the parameters that are set up, and everyone’s friends. Middle school is what politics is in actuality. Politics is secret deals, mysterious strategies, and secrecies under the table, while putting up a facade for the rest of the world. Everyone knows about the mischievous antics, but we still try to pretend that we’re really still our innocent selves for the yard duty lady. And high school? It’s Donald Trump’s first day.
Earlier this month, Trump accepted a historic phone call with Taiwan’s leader, who was congratulating him on his recent election victory. The chat marks the first publicly reported call between a US President and the leader of Taiwan since Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Over the years, Taiwan has bounced between Japanese and Chinese rule, and after World War II, was put under martial law by the Chinese mainland. Taiwan had been a one-party authoritarian state until it came to an official end in 2000 with the election of an opposition party candidate as president. Of course, there’s a major discrepancy as to what Taiwan really is. China feels there's a "one country, two systems" structure in place at the moment and that Taiwan will eventually be folded back into China entirely, while Taiwan maintains it should have its own government and become its own country. For years, the U.S. has sided with China’s policy, and refused to have diplomatic ties with Taiwan since 1979, when it recognized only “one China.”
As a result of the phone call, which was apparently “friendly talk,” global powers pounced on Trump. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi was deeply upset by the symbolic meaning of the phone call and lodged a complaint against the U.S. over the breach in protocol. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Democratic National Committee claimed that the phone call threatened national security.
His acceptance of the phone call was part of what Trump had promised during the campaign - that he would take a tougher stand with China, and supporting Taiwan was part of his rough approach to Beijing. By siding with Taiwan, Trump places the U.S. at a leverage point to pressure China. As they say, “An enemy’s enemy is a friend.” While pushing this delicate envelope could push Beijing off the edge, this could also start a re-set in relations with one of the U.S.’ major trading partners.
Though it’s too early in the game to call anything, what were the motives behind Trump accepting the call? Was it a rookie mistake or does this freshman know what he’s up to? Has his rebellious attitude with this call or refusing to release his tax returns mean he’s found his place in high school, or does his recent announcement of dissolving the Trump foundation to untangle himself with conflicts of interest mean he’s playing by the middle school rules? Decide for yourself.
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