Act of folly to encourage Taiwan secessionists

Now that US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that encourages the United States to send officials "of all levels" to Taiwan to meet their "counterparts" on the island, and vice versa, the precious predictability consecutive past US administrations cautiously sought to preserve in China-US relations may soon be a thing of the past.

The current US president has a penchant for trying to profit from unpredictability. But it is foreseeable that the uncertainties caused by the so-called Taiwan Travel Act will harm his country's relations with China and do a disservice to the efforts the two countries have made over the decades to build friendly relations on the bedrock of the three communiques that normalized ties.

While most agree Trump's latest move is a provocation to Beijing, many in the US and elsewhere seem to believe the law's "nonbinding" nature will not instigate an immediate change in bilateral ties and view it as just another tool the Trump administration is hoping to use to pressure Beijing for more concessions in trade talks.