Trump in Taiwan telephone call China listens in
US President elect, Donald Trump, has spoken by telephone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
The conversation breaks with US policy set in 1979 when formal diplomatic ties were cut.
Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3 December 2016
Washington backs Beijing’s One China stance, which states Taiwan is a province of China.
Taiwan is not recognised as sovereign state by many countries and is not a member of the United Nations.
The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3 December 2016
The conversation was affable according to Taiwanese spokesperson Alex Huang:
“During the conversation, President Tsai and president-elect Mr Trump not only had a friendly talk, greeting each other, but also shared their views on a few points about future policies, especially enhancing local economic development, strengthening national defence, including providing better living and security to Taiwanese people
Cross-strait relations between Taiwan and China and a healthy Taiwan-U.S. relationship can be pursued in parallel, and there is no conflict about that.”
The Chinese say the call was a ‘just a petty trick by Taiwan’ and current US thinking on Taiwan will remain.