US president-elect Donald Trump looked to have sparked a potentially damaging diplomatic row with Beijing on Friday after speaking with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on the telephone.
The call, first reported by the Taipei Times and confirmed by the Financial Times, is thought to be the first between a leader of Taiwan and a US president or president-elect since ties between the two countries were severed in 1979, at the behest of Beijing.
“It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory. The government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said in a statement yesterday. “This is a fact that is generally recognized by the international community.”
Photo: Twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
The statement did not describe the details of China’s complaint to the US, or say with whom it had been lodged.
It said China urged “the relevant US side” — implying Trump’s incoming administration — to handle Taiwan-related issues “cautiously and properly” to avoid “unnecessary interference” in the China-US relationship.
The US closed its embassy in Taiwan in the late 1970s, after the historic rapprochement between Beijing and Washington that stemmed from then-US president Richard Nixon’s 1972 trip to China.
Since then the US has adhered to the “one China” principle.
Trump’s transition team said Tsai, who became the nation’s first female president in January, had congratulated the billionaire tycoon on his recent victory.
“During the discussion they noted the close economic, political and security ties that exist between Taiwan and the United States,” a statement said. “President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming president of Taiwan earlier this year.”
Beijing initially sought to play down the importance of the telephone call, with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) dismissing it as “just a small trick” by Taiwan.
However, experts said the call would infuriate China’s leaders.
“This is going to make real waves in Beijing,” said Bill Bishop, a veteran China watcher who runs the Washington-based Sinocism newsletter. “I think we will see quite the reaction from Beijing. This will put relations from day one into a very difficult place.”
Evan Medeiros, the Asia director at the White House national security council, told the Financial Times: “The Chinese leadership will see this as a highly provocative action, of historic proportions.”
“Regardless if it was deliberate or accidental, this phone call will fundamentally change China’s perceptions of Trump’s strategic intentions for the negative. With this kind of move, Trump is setting a foundation of enduring mistrust and strategic competition for US-China relations,” he said.
Bishop said it was hard to know whether the call was the result of a deliberate policy move by Trump or merely an intervention by a member of his staff who was friendly toward Tsai and Taipei.
Trump’s adviser Peter Navarro, an economics professor, traveled to Taiwan earlier this year at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a recent article for Foreign Policy magazine, Navarro said US President Barack Obama’s treatment of Taiwan had been “egregious,” adding: “This beacon of democracy in Asia is perhaps the most militarily vulnerable US partner anywhere in the world.”
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said Taiwan values its ties with both China and the US, and Taipei’s efforts to improve the two sets of relations do not conflict with each other.
“As far as Taiwan is concerned, good relations across the Taiwan Strait and good relations with the United States are equally important, and both are very helpful to peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Shrugging off a comment by a senior Chinese official, Huang said the improvement in both sets of ties is a goal toward which Taiwan is working and efforts made in the two areas are parallel and do not conflict with each other.
The Mainland Affairs Council also issued a statement saying that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation and has for a long time maintained friendly relations with the US, therefore it is normal for Tsai to congratulate the US president-elect and to emphasize future good bilateral relations.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
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