Ex-Sen. Dole facilitated Trump call with Taiwan’s leader
WASHINGTON — Last week’s telephone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s president was the result of six months of behind-the-scenes work by former Sen. Bob Dole acting on behalf of the Taiwanese government, according to federal filings and published reports.
The call was a breach of diplomatic protocol, and Trump advisers have made conflicting statements about whether it signalled a new policy toward China. Taiwan split from China in 1949, but China still considers the island part of its territory and would consider it unacceptable for the U.S. to recognize Taiwan’s leader as a head of state.
Dole, who is now a lobbyist at the Washington firm Alston & Byrd and a registered foreign agent representing Taiwan, told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that his firm helped arrange the call.
“It’s fair to say that we may have had some influence,” Dole told The Journal.