 Taipei (Taiwan News) — Texas governor Greg Abbot met with Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday in Houston, where they discussed trade ties and exchanged gifts, though the governor's choice of a clock was untimely. In concluding their meeting by exchanging gifts on Sunday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott handed Tsai a clock bearing the Texas state seal in return for a vase given to him by the island's president, according to Abbott’s office. That might not have been a masterstroke of diplomacy, a report from Taiwan News indicates: 
 
 “In Chinese culture the phrase ‘giving a clock’ ( 送鐘) is a homophone with ‘attending a funeral,’ and therefore symbolizes an untimely demise for the recipient.” 
 
 Tsai did not appear fazed by the gift, according to Taiwan News. Two years ago, a similar gift caused embarrassment when visiting British transport minister Susan Kramer gave a pocket timepiece to her host, Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je.
– Texas Gov. Greg Abbott managed to not only slight China by meeting Taiwan's president on Sunday, he managed to step in it with Taiwan's president, too, reports Mashable. During the meeting, Tsai Ing-wen gave Abbott a vase, and Abbott in turn presented her with a clock decorated with the Texas state seal. The rub is that to the Chinese and Taiwanese, the gift of a clock is considered almost a curse, representing the end of a relationship or of life, reports the South China Morning Post. In both Mandarin and Cantonese, the phrase "giving a clock" sounds like the phrase "attending a funeral," and "therefore symbolizes an untimely demise for the recipient," reports Taiwan News. Some Facebook users in Taiwan claimed the gift was "humiliating" and that Americans were "terrible" for not knowing better. But a rep for Taiwan's economic and cultural office in Houston confirmed the president was not offended, reports the Austin American-Statesman. "It was an honor to meet with President Tsai and discuss how our two economies can expand upon our already prosperous trade partnership," Abbott said. He isn't the only one to have made such a mistake. Last year, Britain's minister of state for transport gave Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je a watch. Ko called the timepiece a "piece of junk" and said he would sell it for scrap, but he later claimed he was only joking.