[T]he crisis of soft power risks accelerating the decline of [U.S.] power in the world, activating and speeding up centrifugal dynamics that might otherwise have taken years to fully manifest.
Taiwanese government officials and national security leaders must remember that, right now, silence speaks louder than words, and it is better to remain still than to act rashly.
Trump, grandson of a German immigrant, is particularly peeved at an independent South Africa, which was the worst example of a Western supremacist-cum-colonial mindset.
What perhaps remains unresolved, is how long the American electorate will allow Trump to reduce their country into a paranoia state, an empire of appalling tantrums and ragtag diplomacy.