Arriving in Taiwan, Idaho GOP’s Yates quizzed by reporters on Trump call

When it emerged that Donald Trump and the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, had spoken on the phone – the first communication between top officials from the two governments in almost 40 years – the world was puzzled, Googling away as to whether Taiwan was even a country.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence has utilized State Department briefings ahead of calls with foreign leaders but, according to Kerry, Trump himself has not.

It sparked a backlash from China’s government, which considers Taiwan a province of China.

China called on US officials on Tuesday not to let Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen pass through the United States en route to Guatemala next month, days after President-elect Donald Trump irked Beijing by speaking to Tsai in a break with decades of precedent.

“The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged”, Wang was quoted as saying.

The Washington Post reported that Trump’s call with Taiwan’s leader was carefully planned and shows that he’s expecting to shake up the power dynamic in the Pacific. Representatives for Huntsman and Stavridis could not be immediately reached for comment today.

In recent times, the dispute between China and Taiwan has been about who is sovereign over Taiwan, rather than the whole of China. In other words, that it does not recognize Taiwan as an independent government from China.

The U.S. shifted diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979.

Taiwan is not recognised by the U.S. as an independent country and the two have no formal diplomatic relations, but it also does not recognise Beijing’s claim over Taiwan.

Trump’s 10-minute phone call Friday with Tsai overturned decades of diplomatic protocol.

The call also has drawn attention to Taiwanese media reports that the Trump Organization is interested in investing in the Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, near Taipei. “If Trump wants to overstep the One-China principle, he will destroy Sino-US ties”. We too can do both. “This is not a massive deviation of our policy, but President Trump has made it clear that he is going to work with China-PRC, to make sure that we have a better deal, that we have better trade agreements, and that we do a better job in protecting the American worker and he’s going to continue to do it”. “The (Taiwanese) president is looking forward to strengthening bilateral interactions and contacts as well as setting up closer cooperative relations”, the statement said.

China reacted angrily to the unusual conversation and lodged a diplomatic protest with the United States, but the White House played down the issue.

Asked at a briefing whether China has asked the U.S. to cancel the stop planned for next month, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan and accused Tsai of political machinations. “There is no conflict (in that)”, he told reporters in Taipei.

Chris Murphy, a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said using Taiwan as a way to pressure China to cooperate on North Korea’s nuclear program or on trade could be counterproductive.

While China lodged a “solemn representation” and urged U.S. authorities to adhere to the so-called one-China principle, it stopped short of criticizing Trump. She said she’d hosted a dinner for Trump supporters in Taipei ahead of the November 8 election.

Tsai added: “The phone call was a way for us to express our respect for the USA election as well as congratulate President-elect Trump on his win”.

“It is unclear exactly what the strategic effort is, what the aim of the strategic effort is, and it is unclear exactly what potential benefit could be experienced by the US, China or Taiwan but I will leave that on them to explain”, he said.

“The President-elect talked to President Xi two weeks ago in the same manner”.

The current White House went into damage control mode over the weekend, assuring China that America still believes in the “One China” policy that ties Taiwan to the Mainland China.