In an interview broadcast yesterday, the neo-US president rejects the principle of almost thirty years without concessions on trade or other agreements. He defends his right to speak to the president of Taiwan. The Global Times accuses him of being "ignorant as a child" in terms of foreign policy. Threatens total control of the Straits.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - President-elect Donald Trump has asked why the United States should keep to the principle of "one China", if Beijing will not make concessions on trade or other issues. The newspaper Global Times has provided an immediate answer: Trump is an "ignorant and a child" in terms of foreign policy and the one China principle is non-negotiable. In addition, the paper embarks on the possibility of a military escalation in the Strait (Taiwan) if the US dares to abandon the one China principle.
This principle requires that all of Beijing’s diplomatic and trade partners recognize the People's Republic as the sole representative of the Chinese people, and to consider the island of Taiwan a "renegade province", waiting to be reunited (or reabsorbed by) to the motherland.
During his campaign Trump strongly criticized China for being a " currency manipulator", and unfairly supporting its exports. A few days after his election he received a congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, provoking the ire of Beijing.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News yesterday 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."
He also defended his right to receive calls from anyone, including Tsai Ing-wen: ""I don't want China dictating to me and this was a call put into me”, he said.
In 1979 the US established diplomatic relations with Beijing and interrupted ones with Taiwan (home to the government of the "Republic of China", which fled to the island under Chiang Kai-shek). In return, the United States is committed to a peaceful reunification of the two sides of the Strait (Taiwan) in the event of armed aggression by Beijing, the US would defend the island.
"Taiwan" is a sensitive issue for the Chinese Communist Party with patriotic and nationalist tones claims to hold together all the Chinese territories, to have retaken them from the old colonial powers.
Today's response from the Global Times (magazine close to the People's Daily, the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party) is very tough. First of all it describes Trump’s move "a very childish rash act" and said he needed "to humbly learn about diplomacy"; then states that "the principle of the only China is non-negotiable ... Trump thinks that we can put a price on everything." This is followed by veiled threats: ""China must resolutely battle Mr Trump, only after a few serious rebuffs then will he truly understand that China and other global powers cannot be bullied."
In the interview with Fox News, Trump reiterated the accusations against Beijing focused on the devaluation of the yuan, the policy toward North Korea and the tensions in the South China Sea.
Recalling the phone call with Tsai Ing-wen, he said: "It was a very nice call. Short. And why should some other nation be able to say I can't take a call?," Trump asked.
The Global Times warns Trump against using the one China principle as a lever to force Beijing to make concessions on trade and other issues.