President-elect Donald Trump took a congratulatory call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday that sent the Obama administration into a tailspin of damage control for Trump breaking decades of a US president not speaking with a Taiwanese state leader in the face of Chinese threats.
The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016
Trump’s transition team said Friday that the President-elect had chatted with Tsai, who passed along her congratulations, CNN reported.
In response, the Obama administration spent the weekend meeting with Chinese officials and attempting to “reiterate and clarify the commitment of the United States to our longstanding China policy.”
Trump tweeted Sunday:
Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016
The White House stepped in to reassure Beijing of U.S. ‘continued commitment’ to ‘longstanding’ policy.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Obama administration tried to reassure China of the U.S. commitment to its current “One-China” policy this weekend.
Trump responded to his media critics by tweeting, “Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.”
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) December 3, 2016
WND reports that Gerrit van der Wees, former editor of Taiwan Communiqué, explained in the New York Daily News that the phone call actually represents “a major breakthrough for U.S. relations with the nation.”
“President-elect Trump’s phone call is significant because it does indicate he is bound less by anachronistic conventions and restrictions on relations with Taiwan, and is signaling a broader change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan. It would indeed be good if he would start a process towards more normal relations with Taiwan, treating it like our other friends and allies. This would actually also be good for China, as it could then move away from its outdated claim to sovereignty over Taiwan, and relax its rigid policy to try to isolate Taiwan internationally, and thus significantly reduce tensions in the region.
“It is too early to say how and how fast this will evolve, but Taiwan is certainly high on the radar screen of a number of key aides to Trump, who will fill positions in the new administration, and who has spoken out in favor of significant improvement of relations with Taiwan.”
In a tweet Monday, political commentator and author Ann Coulter noted Democrats’ affinity for communists in both China and Cuba. She tweeted, “Media and Democrats siding with communist China over democratic Taiwan. Next thing you know they’ll be praising Castro.”
Media and Democrats siding with communist China over democratic Taiwan.
Next thing you know they'll be praising Castro…— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 5, 2016
As Fox News reported, a week before the phone call between Trump and Taiwan’s president, China flew long-range nuclear-capable bombers over Taiwan.
“The escort jets were used to collect radar information and conduct other surveillance on American allies such as Japan,” Fox reported.
During his campaign for the White House, Trump frequently expressed his disdain for China’s policies toward the U.S. He accused China of manipulating its currency and taking advantage of the U.S. in trade agreements. Trump vowed to hold the nation accountable and renegotiate trade deals.
As WND reported, in May, Trump told an Indiana crowd that China has been allowed to essentially “rape” the U.S. when it comes to trade.
“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said in reference to the high number of China’s exports in comparison to those of the U.S. “That’s what they’re doing. It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world.”
Trump vowed that policies will change when he is president.
“We’re going to turn it around,” he said. “And we have the cards, don’t forget it. We’re like the piggy bank that’s being robbed. We have the cards. We have a lot of power with China.”
Trump said he’s not “angry” with China, but he believes America’s leaders have been “grossly incompetent.”
