Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

When she stopped over in Los Angeles on Aug. 13 on her way to Paraguay, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) paid a visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where she made a public statement in which she quoted the former US president, saying: “Everything [is] negotiable except two things: our freedom and our future.”

Some observers have interpreted Tsai’s remark as an olive branch to Beijing.

The day after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) returned from her most recent overseas state visit, El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and switched allegiance to China. The timing was clearly carefully chosen by Beijing as part of its ongoing psychological war against Taiwan.

This shows that Beijing was nervous about Tsai’s overseas visit and fears an improving US-Taiwan relationship. It also exposes China’s lack of mental toughness. Conversely, the Taiwanese public has grown up under China’s threat and is used to Beijing’s games, so after the news broke, the stock market continued its rally and even closed at the day’s high.