Trump leaves open possible Taiwan meet after taking over, stirs hacking row

US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump on Saturday left open the possibility of meeting Taiwan’s president if she visits the US after he is sworn in on January 20 and also expressed continued scepticism over whether Russia was responsible for computer hacks of Democratic Party officials.

Speaking to reporters upon entering a New Year’s Eve celebration at his Mar-a-lago estate, Trump said, “We’ll see,” when pressed on whether he would meet Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s president,ifsheweretobeintheusat any point after he becomes president.

Taiwan’s president will be in transit in Houston on January 7 and again will be in transit in San Francisco on January 13.

Trump,citingprotocol,saidhe wouldnotmeetanyforeignleader while President Barack Obama is still in office.

Beijing bristled when Trump, shortly after his victory, accepted a congratulatory telephone call from the Taiwan leader and has warned against steps that would upset the “one-china” policy China and the US have maintained for decades. Talk of a stopoverintheusbythetaiwanpresident has further rattled Washington-beijing relations.

On another foreign policy matter,trumpwarnedagainstbeing quick to pin the blame on Russia for the hacking of US emails. The Washington Post too reported on Friday that Moscow could be behind intrusion into a laptop owned by a Vermont electric utility.

“I think it’s unfair if we don’t know. It could be somebody else. I also know things that other people don’t know so we cannot be sure,” Trump said.

Asked what that information included, the Republican President-electsaid,“youwillfind out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

But he said that any computer issubjecttohacks.“it’sveryimportant. If you have something really important write it out and have it delivered by courier the old fashioned way,” Trump said, adding, “No computer is safe, I don’t care what they say.” REUTERS