Jan. 13: U.S. Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft held a video meeting with ROC leader Tsai Ing-wen to discuss “Taiwan’s international participation, strengthening Taiwan-US cooperation, shared democratic values, and opportunities to exchange educational resources,” according to a statement. Jan. 23: Ned Price, a State Department spokesman under the Biden-Harris administration, called on Beijing to cease “military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan” and “instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives.” Chinese language observers widely believed at the time that “Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives” referred to the Tsai Ing-wen and that the U.S. had steeply downgraded Taiwan’s status (in accordance with the CCP’s stance on the ROC).