Beijing's diplomatic offensive at risk of backfiring

TAIWAN'S leader, President Tsai Ing-wen, arrived in Honduras Sunday for a closely watched four-nation Central American visit but, in China at least, there was much more interest in her stopovers in the United States - Houston on the way out and San Francisco on the way home.

However, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team had issued assurances that there would be no contact between them and the Taiwan leader during her transit layovers. China's sensitivity stems from an unprecedented phone call the Taiwan leader made to congratulate Mr Trump on his electoral triumph even though the two sides have no diplomatic relations.

China has made clear that Taiwan will have to pay for such transgressions. A Global Times commentary on Jan 10 trumpeted: "Tsai had a phone call with Trump, but soon Sao Tome and Principe broke ties with Taiwan. It is certain that more countries will do the same".