Open Questions | Obama-era diplomat Daniel Russel on Trump 2.0’s potential effects on China
In a less forgiving global environment for Beijing, how will Donald Trump’s second term play out for Taiwan?
Daniel Russel is vice-president of International Security and Diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). A veteran diplomat, he focused on the US’ Asian affairs for decades and played a key role in former president Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia.
I left with a clean conscience. I had 33 years of service to my country. During the last eight years, we worked directly for the wonderful US president Barack Obama, working on the Asia account.
When Donald Trump was inaugurated [in 2017], I did stay on for several months to smooth the transition, support the new team and make sure people in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs and in our embassies were well looked after. But I had no intention of staying under the Trump administration because it really wasn’t an option for me. I felt that the values and principles of US foreign policy that I had served under for decades were being undermined and contravened by many of the policies of the Trump administration.
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