Trump hints U.S. ‘One China’ policy could end

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trump-tsaiPresident-elect Donald Trump has questioned whether the US should continue its “One China” policy.

US policy since 1979 has respected China’s stance on Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway province.

But Mr Trump said that without concessions from Beijing on trade and other issues, he did not see why that should continue.

Relations with China became strained when Mr Trump took a phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Mr Trump went on to post a series of tweets criticising China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know why we have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”

Mr Trump also said China was not co-operating with the US on its handling of its currency, on North Korea, or on tensions in the South China Sea.

‘Very disrespectful’

Taiwan’s new independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen
Taiwan’s new independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen
Mr Trump’s decision to take a phone call from the Taiwanese president earlier this month was a break with US diplomatic tradition and prompted a formal protest from Beijing.

No US president or president-elect had spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader for decades.

But in the Fox interview, Mr Trump said it was not up to Beijing to decide whether he should take a call from Taiwan’s leader.

“I don’t want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me,” Mr Trump said. “It was a very nice call. Short. And why should some other nation be able to say I can’t take a call?

“I think it actually would’ve been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it.”

In the same interview, Mr Trump said he “doesn’t believe” a CIA assessment that Russian hackers tried to sway the US presidential election in his favour.

What is the problem?

The split between China and Taiwan goes back to 1949, when the Republic of China (ROC) Kuomintang (KMT) government fled the mainland to Taiwan after being defeated by the communists under Mao Zedong. The KMT held China’s seat on the UN Security Council and was, for a while, recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government.

But in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing. Only a handful of countries now recognise Taiwan’s government.

Washington cut formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, expressing its support for Beijing’s “one country, two systems” concept, which states that Taiwan is part of China.

But despite the cut, the US remains, by far, Taiwan’s most important friend, and its only ally.

The Taiwan Relations Act promises to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons. It says that any attack by China on Taiwan would be considered of “grave concern” to the US.

China has hundreds of missiles pointing towards Taiwan, and has threatened to use force if it formally declares independence.

President Tsai, Taiwan’s first female leader, led the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to a landslide victory in the January 2016 election.

The DPP has traditionally leaned towards independence from China. President Tsai’s administration does not accept the “One China” policy.

BBC

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15 responses to “Trump hints U.S. ‘One China’ policy could end”

  1. Modern Ukraine was formed by the Western bankers to be Russia’s anti-Russia.

    Pakistan was formed by the Western bankers to be India’s anti-India.

    North Korea was formed by the Western bankers to be South Korea’s anti-South Korea.

    And Taiwan was formed by the same Western bankers to be China’s anti-China.

    Each and every single time, an “anti” to clash and further the bankers’ geo-political objectives.

    1. And Western Bankers were also responsible for the destruction of Pangea, extinction of the dinosaurs, the San Francisco earthquake, Atlantis, Nile floods, Krakatoa, Sahara desert, fire ants, psoriasis, acne, Ghangis Khan, flatulence, bad hummus, tsunamis, bad beer, Bermuda Triangle, hemorrhoids, and of course peach fuzz.

      1. In a previous comment, I told you that every time I think you reached the abysmal limit of idiocy, you prove me wrong and you go even deeper. This time is another example.

        Educate yourself and get your facts straight about Ukraine, Pakistan, North Korea and Taiwan you top-class imbecile.

        1. To think that I’ve gone from your average imbecile to top class imbecile. I should have prepared a speech. Anyway, I did forget San Andrea Fault, Mount Hood, killer bees, Atilla the Hun, “B” movies, poison ivy, Idi Amin Dada, Sarin Palin, Edsel, bubonic plague, Pol Pot, Jeffrey Dahmer, AIDS, FGM, slavery, and of course over cooked filet mignon.

          1. Don’t overestimate yourself. You were never an average imbecile; always have been a top-class one.

            Since you brought up Pol Pot:

            According to journalist Elizabeth Becker, U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski “himself claims that he concocted the idea of persuading Thailand to cooperate fully with China in its efforts to rebuild the Khmer Rouge.” Brzezinski said, “I encouraged the Chinese to support Pol Pot. I encouraged the Thai to help the D.K. [Khmer Rouge government-in-exile of Democratic Kampuchea]. The question was how to help the Cambodian people. Pol Pot was an abomination. We could never support him, but China could.” In fact, U.S. support went well beyond encouraging others to rebuild the Khmer Rouge.http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/16/who-supported-the-khmer-rouge/

            Educate yourself and get your facts straight – rhetorical. Keep going deeper in the abyss of idiocy where you belong.

          2. Counterpunch???? Good night.

          3. Ah yes, almost forgot. Idiots don’t like facts …

            Bibliography of the article – For Further Reading:

            Michael Haas: Genocide by Proxy: Cambodian Pawn on a Superpower Chessboard. Praeger, 1991.

            Michael Haas: Cambodia, Pol Pot, and the United States: The Faustian Pact. Praeger, 1991.

            Michael Haas: Modern Cambodia’s Emergence from the Killing Fields: What Happened in the Critical Years? Publishing for Scholars, 2012.

            Ben Kiernan: The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79. Yale University Press, 1996.

            Ben Kiernan, editor: Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia. Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1993.

            E.V. Kobelev, editor: Kampuchea: From Tragedy to Rebirth. Progress Publishers, 1979.

          4. “E.V. Kobelev, editor: Kampuchea: From Tragedy to Rebirth. Progress Publishers, 1979.”

            My goodness. I bet you read this little nugget, didn’t you? 🙂

          5. I see you missed the point as well.

          6. 5thDrawer Avatar

            He didn’t read ‘Killing Fields’ either. And MOST of America doesn’t read these lines … although they are hoodwinked as easily by the propagandists on power at the time, or as seen with this and other things, treated as ‘enemy’ not to be told anything … ‘secrecy needed’ being a prime belief. 😉
            “The buildup of the Khmer Rouge is one of the more striking examples of the cynicism of the imperial mindset, in which the lives of others are sacrificed on the altar of geopolitical interests. That philosophy remains very much alive today.”

          7. Perhaps you and Omega should sit down and read the paragraphs prior to the quoted comment and after the comment which puts Brzenski’s comment into the real world. Counterpunch and those who say their morning vespers to the news sight enjoy only brief moments of Nirvana until the full story appears.

          8. O'Matrix Avatar

            Like the behavior of Russia in Syria in which the lives of others are sacrificed on the altar of geopolitical interests.

          9. I’m rarely willing to leave my cynical shell, but this comment in support of “Omega’s” bottomess idiocy is really something, pal. Are you serious or is this just some kind of defend-an-Arab-from-a-“Zionist” reflex for you? 🙂

      2. This demented piece of genetic garbage is still occassionally good at providing comic relief. His obsession with “bankers” is the icing on the cake.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar

    China has hundreds of missiles pointing … everywhere … so what’s different? :-)))
    And if Mr Donald wants to take a phone call, I suppose he can. I can too. I’d prefer from a female, of course, but ya can’t have everything in life, right?

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