One more example of Trump thinking two steps ahead of the Trump-haters

"The fact that Trump was able to talk Governor Branstad out of continuing to break the record for longer-serving governor shows me that big plans are afoot with China. This appointment did not occur to Trump after the Taiwan phone call.Once again, Trump is thinking at least two chess moves ahead of the haters."

 

Thomas Lifson  "Remember when Trump supposedly blundered into a diplomatic minefield he had no comprehension of by taking a phone call from the President of Taiwan? The same media that dismissed his presidential run as comedy were dead certain that disaster lay ahead in a complex and delicate diplomatic relationship.

"So committed are Trump haters to the idea that he cannot possibly have outsmarted them that they never bother to consider that a plan may be at work.  Average Americans understand that the devastation of our manufacturing sector is in large part the result of that delicate diplomatic balance, and the notion that it might be disrupted sounds as satisfying as watching stuffy rich lady Margaret Dumont receive her comeuppance at the hands of Groucho Marx.

"Yesterday, Donald Trump revealed a brilliant choice for Chinese ambassador on Facebook, bypassing the media once again.

President-elect Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa, the longest-serving governor in American history, to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to China.

Gov. Branstad's relationship with President Xi Jinping dates back to the mid-1980s, when President Xi was a young county official seeking a closer relationship with Iowa's robust agriculture sector.

. . .

 "Gov. Branstad is the longest serving governor in American history, having served from 1983 to 1999 and again from 2011 until the present. Since leading his first delegation to Hebei Province in 1984, the Governor has led six trade missions to China meeting with numerous provincial governors, ministerial leaders and local officials.
"Gov. Branstad is considered an “old friend”, a culturally significant title, by President Xi and has a long-standing relationship with the Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai." . . .

China and Donald Trump  . . . "Trump must counter the Chinese challenges, especially in the South China Seas and the Spratly Islands, more than 100 small islands or reefs, 500 miles from the Chinese mainland, where China is building and expanding reefs to provide radar and military facilities, and where it claims almost all the potentially resource rich waters.

"Trump must also consider a shift in diplomatic relations with Taiwan, strengthening its democratic character, and also expanding the U.S. Navy in the East and South China Seas. This will take more than a 10-minute phone call. "