China protests Trump-Taiwan chat

China protests Trump-Taiwan chat

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the telephone with US president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei, in a photo released by her office. (Reuters Photo)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the telephone with US president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei, in a photo released by her office. (Reuters Photo)

BEIJING: China has protested to the United States over a telephone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, describing it as a "gimmick" by the island it regards as a renegade province.

The country “has lodged solemn representations with the relevant US authorities", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website. China also urged various parties in the US to adhere to its promise of honouring the One-China policy, and to handle Taiwan-linked issues “prudently", it said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV that the move was “a gimmick pulled off by Taiwan. The One-China principle is the foundation for the healthy development of the Sino-US relations, and we don’t want to see this political foundation disturbed and damaged.”

Trump’s transition team sent a statement saying that Taiwan’s president had congratulated the billionaire businessman an reality-TV star on his victory and that the two “noted the close economic, political and security ties” between the two sides.

The statement didn’t indicate if the call presaged a shift in longstanding US policy against recognising Taiwan’s sovereignty or allowing direct communication between top leaders. The call lasted more than 10 minutes, Taiwan’s presidential office said in an e-mailed statement.

“The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!,” Trump later said on Twitter. “Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.”

The call has the potential to develop into the first major foreign policy incident for Trump as he prepares to take office on Jan 20. The US broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, when it officially recognised the government in Beijing. Washington has maintained a close relationship with the island -- often to China’s anger -- in the years since, including with weapons sales.

China can be a cooperative partner in Asia and beyond, provided that Washington respects China’s right for peaceful development, as well as its core interests including the issues of Taiwan and the South China Sea, a commentary on the official Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday.

This is “unprecedented and is good news” for Taiwan, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, director of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, who has written a number of books on Taiwan. It’s “typical Trump. Unexpected, direct, and fast", he added.

“The US support for Taiwan’s democracy and security is here to stay. Whether it will have an impact on China’s strategy of isolation of Ms Tsai or not remains to be seen,” Cabestan said. “My hunch is that it won’t very much.”

Taiwan presidential office spokesman Alex Huang said good Taiwan-US relations were as important as cross-strait ties.

“It’s in line with national interests, and critical to regional peace,” he said. “Those are goals of the government and there’s no conflict among the goals.”

Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: "The Chinese will not take this as an indication of policy, but it will make them concerned and they will seek to provide some education to the incoming team.”

She said there had never been a publicly announced phone call between a Taiwanese leader and a US president or president-elect in the almost four decades since ties were broken.

The Taiwan contact was made public as part of a statement disclosing that Trump held phone calls on Friday with world leaders including Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. US State Department spokesman John Kirby declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

An Obama administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the White House wasn’t notified about the call in advance.

The US has provided billions of dollars in military and other aid to Taiwan in the years since breaking off formal relations, including last year, when the Obama administration announced a $1.8-billion arms sale to Taiwan. That prompted an angry response from Chinese leaders.

In his Twitter feed, Trump has periodically criticised the Obama administration for delaying arms sales to Taiwan.

“Why is @BarackObama delaying the sale of F-16 aircraft to Taiwan? Wrong message to send to China. #TimeToGetTough,” Trump tweeted in 2011.

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