Trump eyes direct talk with Taiwan leader, roiling long-standing diplomacy

Trump says he’ll speak to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, an unprecedented move that could roil US-China relations; Lai welcomed the idea, stressing commitment to the status quo, while no call has been scheduled. Direct dialogue would echo Trump’s 2016 call to Tsai Ing-wen, which broke decades of diplomacy since the 1979 shift to Beijing; Beijing warns against such talks and has used arms sales and diplomacy as leverage, while Taiwan remains a key US trading partner and semiconductor supplier.