Weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial phone call with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, a businesswoman claiming to be associated with his conglomerate made inquiries about a major investment in building luxury hotels as part of the island’s new airport development.



The woman, known only as Ms Chen arrived from the US in September to meet the mayor of Taoyuan, Cheng Wen-tsan, one of the senior politicians involved in the Aerotropolis project, a large urban development being planned around the renovation of Taiwan’s main airport, Taoyuan International.

“She said she was associated with the Trump corporation and she would like to propose a possible investment project in the future, especially hotels,” said an official familiar with the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official described the talks, conducted in both English and Mandarin, as a routine meeting with a potential investor. It took place in Taoyuan city hall, on the outskirts of the capital, Taipei, and lasted 15-20 minutes. Chen had not been in touch since.

“One thing quite sure from her side was that she would like to bring the Trump corporation here to build the hotel,” said the official, who did not know if Chen had a Trump Organization business card.

The claims about Chen’s visit, which were confirmed by the mayor’s spokesman and the Aerotropolis corporation, add to growing concerns about potential conflicts of interest between Trump’s business empire and US foreign policy.

Although the president-elect has confirmed he will leave his conglomerate once he takes office, the decision to turn over the business to his children has raised fears that the family’s financial ties with foreign players could shade US policy.

The Aerotropolis project is in the early stages of planning, with consultations continuing with residents who live close to the airport. The area marked out for development is largely made up of fields and small settlements. Building contracts are not expected to be granted for at least two years.

Source: YouTube

Chen’s association with the Trump Organization remains unconfirmed and little more is known about her, although she is believed to travel between Taiwan and the US.

In November, the Taiwanese press reported that a Chen Si-Ting, a US citizen of Taiwanese origin, had given a speech at a Friends of Trump banquet in central Taipei. Chen claimed at the event on 1 November that Trump’s company was interested in investing in Taiwan and that his son, Eric, would visit the island before the end of the year.

One man accused her of fraudulently claiming to raise money for Trump, a charge she strongly denied.

In a separate development, Anne-Marie Donoghue, who describes herself as the global head of transient sales and Asia at Trump Hotels, was confirmed to have been in Taiwan in October.

In a Facebook exchange with a friend on 15 October, Donoghue said: “OMG I’m in Taipei now and love it here. Flying to Hong Kong in a few hours. Miss you too!!”

Her friend asked: “Are you on a fun trip or work trip? You will love HK too … They have great food!”

To which Donoghue replied: “Work trip but it has been so fun!!!”

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, Amanda Miller, told the New York Times the company had “no plans for expansion into Taiwan”, and there had been no “authorised visits” to push a Trump development project.

However, Miller did not dispute that Donoghue, a sales manager, had visited Taiwan in October.

Trump’s 10-minute call on Friday with Tsai was an unprecedented move that broke decades of US-China protocol and prompted Beijing to lodge a diplomatic complaint with the US.

Although Taiwan has its own government, currency and military, China views the island of 23 million as a province that will eventually be reunited with the mainland. It strongly objects to any country having formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Since 1979, the US has acknowledged Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, with relations governed by the “One China” set of protocols.

In Taiwan, both analysts and opposition leaders said they had been surprised by the call.

“Somebody called Tsai, the president of Taiwan, and that’s good to hear,” said Antonio Chang, a Taipei-based political analyst. “But people are worried about the backlash from China. On one hand people are happy and on the other they have a kind of angst.



“People tend to forget that Taiwan is a country. It’s not Hong Kong. This is a reminder for the world.”

China has frozen ties with Taiwan because of Tsai’s refusal to acknowledge the “One China” policy since her inauguration in May.

Given the tension with Beijing, some analysts questioned the wisdom of the Tsai administration’s decision to go ahead with the call.

Francis Hu, the head of politics at Taichung University, said it was not “prudent” to talk for so long and portray it as a diplomatic breakthrough in US-Taiwan relations.

“If you want to call someone to offer congratulations this is not a mistake, but for other things, it may not be so prudent because we’re now in a delicate situation,” he said.

Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang party [KMT], which has traditionally taken a pro-China stance, expressed its reservations about the call in a statement released on Saturday.

While welcoming US support, it urged Tsai’s government, currently ruled by her Democratic Progressive party, to implement a “no surprises” foreign policy.

Eric Huang, the KMT’s international spokesman, said the party hoped the DPP “will implement foreign policies that consider regional and cross-strait political relations, have our country’s best interests as the primary strategic consideration, rather than engage in events that merely offer foreign policy public relations value”.