Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The dramatic changes in the tug-of-war between the US and China over the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) must have been a shock to the US government. The President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s last-minute shady deal with China, which involved sending a letter of intent to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to join the bank, not only surprised the public, it left them in utter shock.

As Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) prioritizes reforms to domestic policy and vows to make the “status quo” the focus of her cross-strait policy if she wins the presidential election next year, some people seem eager to play the “definition game” and are coaxing her into clarifying her definition of the “status quo.”