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 Ted Cruz meets Taiwan president and fires his own broadside at China 
 
 The Texas senator Ted Cruz and governor, Greg Abbott, have met the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, while she was passing through the state on her way to diplomatic stops in Central America. “The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” Cruz said in a statement on Sunday. The telephone conversation broke with decades of precedent and cast doubt on his incoming administration’s commitment to Beijing’s “one China” policy. This is about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend.” 
 
 China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a renegade province, ineligible for state-to-state relations. Cruz said he and the Taiwanese leader discussed upgrading bilateral relations and furthering economic cooperation between their countries, including increased access to Taiwanese markets that will benefit Texas ranchers, farmers and small businesses. Abbott said in a Twitter post that he also met with Tsai on Sunday and that they discussed “expanding trade and economic opportunities.” “We are firmly opposed to the Taiwan leader’s engagement with US officials under the pretext of transit, and her attempt to undermine China-US relations,” the foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing. China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times said Beijing would take a hard line toward any contacts between Taiwan's government and the incoming Trump administration. “If Trump reneges on the One China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. REUTERS/James Nielsen 
 
 It is not unusual for U.S. lawmakers to meet with Taiwanese leaders when they pass through the country, but tensions are high this winter after Trump, who like Cruz and Abbott is a Republican, spoke to Tsai Ing-wen last month. Beijing had urged the United States not to let her into the country.
– Ted Cruz has joined his rival-turned-ally Donald Trump in tweaking China. The Texas senator met with Taiwan's president Sunday when she stopped in Houston on her way to Central America, reports the AP. Cruz made a point to show that he was defying the wishes of China in doing so, saying that he and other Texas lawmakers received a "curious letter" from the Chinese consulate asking that they avoid meeting Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in deference to the "One China" policy, reports the Guardian. "The People's Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves," Cruz said in a statement. The meeting probably wouldn't have generated much attention if not for the recent tensions between Trump and Beijing, with Reuters noting it's not unusual for US lawmakers to meet Taiwanese leaders when they're in the US. The discussions centered on "arms sales, diplomatic exchanges, and economic relations," said Cruz. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also met with Tsai. China made clear again Monday that it's not pleased, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying that "we are firmly opposed to the Taiwan leader's engagement with US officials under the pretext of transit." And the state-run Global Times newspaper warned of "revenge" if Trump, who broke with protocol in accepting a phone call from Tsai after his election win, ditches the One China policy as president.