Donald Trump attacks China after Taiwan call controversy

In Beijing Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China-U.S. trade has been of “mutual benefit” and that both sides “must exert efforts based on the important principles of relations between the two countries”.

President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial phone call with Taiwan’s president on Friday was the work of Trump staffers and Taiwan specialists that had been months in the making, The Washington Post reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

“At this moment, I don’t know how much Trump understands the complexity of this issue”, Zhao says.

Washington has pursued a so-called “One China” policy since 1979, when it shifted diplomatic recognition of China from the government in Taiwan to the communist government on the mainland.

“Very early on, Taiwan was on that list”, said Stephen Yates, a national security official during the presidency of George W. Bush and an expert on China and Taiwan.

It said it had given a “solemn representations with the US the relevant parties…to handle issues related to Taiwan with caution and care in order to avoid unnecessary interference with overall Sino-US relations”. “I think that’s valuable and I would certainly recommend it, but obviously that hasn’t happened in a few cases”.

Yates said that Trump had issued a news release on the 10-minute phone conversation with Tsai and also tweeted about it, mentioning United States arms sales to Taiwan.

And the call reflects the views of hard-line advisers urging Trump to take a tough opening line with China, which considers Taiwan a province.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence talks with reporters as he leaves Trump Tower, in New York, November 28, 2016. “I don’t think so!”

Chinese leaders, who have long counted on stable, predictable relationships with USA leaders, are “probably scrambling to figure out how to respond” to Trump, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We pay attention to and comment on their policies”.

But in practice, the small island enjoys numerous trappings of a full diplomatic relationship with the United States.

It’s also an indicator of the attitude of the incoming US administration toward Beijing, which is hardly surprising considering Trump has always been critical of China.

The diplomatic contretemps was one of several recently for the Republican president-elect, a real estate magnate who has never held public office and has no foreign affairs or military experience.

Over the weekend China complained to the USA after Mr Trump flouted nearly four decades of diplomatic protocol by directly speaking with the leader of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province.

China lodged a diplomatic complaint in response.