Donald Trump Speaks To Taiwan’s President, Reversing Decades Of U.S. Policy

[TaiShang]

Me, lol? You mean the guy we just elected our president?

Yes. At least half of you. LOL.

 

[Akasa]

Are you freaking blind? Didn't you read? We are killing the US in trade, we cash in > $300 billion a year WE OWN THE US and that's is the naked truth. Heck we are not killing we are slaughtering the US in trade

The portion of foreign-held debt that the US owes to China is just over $1.1 trillion, or less than 6% of the total US debt. Perhaps you would like to reverse your answer?

Putin has. He did not got Trump elected for nothing.

There is no evidence that the Kremlin played a role in determining the outcome of US elections. The FBI launched its own investigation and found nothing substantial.

 

[TaiShang]

There is no evidence that the Kremlin played a role in determining the outcome of US elections.

Just how it is supposed to be. There must be no evidence that Kremlin played a role in determining the outcome of the US elections.

Strange how pro-Russia Assange's leakes have turned the tide entirely against Hillary.

Trump will be forever indebt to Putin.

The portion of foreign-held debt that the US owes to China is just over $1.1 trillion, or less than 6% of the total US debt. Perhaps you would like to reverse your answer?

In fact, Trump said China was raping the US. To us, it is not like that. We consider it a win-win.

 

[Sasquatch]

Threads cleaned and the Indian troll is banned.

 

[terranMarine]

The portion of foreign-held debt that the US owes to China is just over $1.1 trillion, or less than 6% of the total US debt. Perhaps you would like to reverse your answer?

Nah no need to reverse, i know the annual trade deficit the US faces is a slaughter. But that's not the real problem, the US faces a much bigger problem and you obviously have no clue about it. The underground government is robing the yankees and most of them don't even have a clue. The US debt is much worse than you can even imagine, yankees got bigger problems to worry about rather than sticking its nose in TW affairs.

 

[Muhammed45]

Trump is a brainless fool. Don't expect him more. He will give the remaining markets up to China.
Case closed

 

[xunzi]

First off, the 2016 date on your link is just the date of that page, NOT the communiqué. Your link is nothing more than a reposting of the original 1979 communiqué language that was the very reason, that the Six Assurance were given to Taiwan, to clarify the USA position. Secondly, "acknowledged" the Chinese position does not mean agree with the PRC's interpretation of, hence the clear statement by both our executive authority and our Congress that was given by our State Department in both the agreement with Taiwan and in the six assurances with Taiwan as typified by the official CRS report of the Congress...

http://www.taiwanbasic.com/nstatus/crs-report.htm

"Washington's "one China" policy, however, does not mean that the United States recognizes, nor agrees with Beijing's claims to sovereignty over Taiwan.[23][22] On the contrary, on July 14, 1982, Washington gave specific assurances to Taiwan that the United States did not accept China's claim to sovereignty over the island (Six Assurances),[24][22] and the U.S. Department of State informed the Senate that "[t]he United States takes no position on the question of Taiwan's sovereignty."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan–United_States_relations#Notable_issues

Or to put it more specifically, as President Bush said in 2001,

"if Taiwan were attacked by China, do we (The U.S.) have an obligation to defend the Taiwanese?" He responded, "Yes, we do...and the Chinese must understand that. The United States would do whatever it took to help Taiwan defend herself."

So perhaps before you tell someone to stop "yapping your mouth" you should look into the whole story so you don't look like the arrogant Chinese fool that you do now.


We do. Taiwan does.



God, you sound just like a petulant little boy, trying to prove how tough he is!

As long as you "acknowledge" The one-china policy and taiwan is part of China, then that is all it matter to us. The moment you try to interfere and violate our territorial integrity, then you know that we do anything to maintain that integrity at all cost. Bush knows it, so I expect the republican to understand that "red line" core interest of us is to be respect in order to maintain world peace.

 

[Max]

how ruining relations with China is in interest of US when China is largest trade partner?

 

[Beidou2020]

I knew some of the Indians and others would use this sensitive subject to needle the Chinese.

Trump is the ultimate troll. His Twitter alone can trigger anyone he wants.

We have an internet troll as the president of America. LMFAO.

Trump's Twitter is now the most powerful media outlet in the world. He can control the news cycle as he wants. American president is the most powerful human on planet earth without being able to control the news cycle. But now that Trump can control the news cycle, he has ultimate power.

This is like we are living inside a movie. LOL.

If anyone saw his rally yesterday, it was epic. He trashed the American media like a boss.

Btw if you are easily triggered by Trump, then you won't like Trump's new Defence Secretary General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis.

I've watched some of his speeches. This guy is legendary for his sheer badassery.

 

[Beidou2020]

I really hope China don't fall for Tsai's trick of getting a rift between US and China.

By making a massive deal of this, it just annoys Trump by making it look like China is after him and he will be hell bent on turning hostile against China once he is in office.

Don't make official complaint to Obama. Media will blow it out of proportion and things will spiral out of control.

Last thing China needs is to turn the Trump team against it. There are some hardliners in his team already that will need careful management.

This was a calculated move by Tsai knowing Trump's massive ego. That's why she called him and got the message out to the media that this call happened. I'm sure it was decided by Taiwanese strategic analysts as a way to damage US-China relations.

Don't fall for it China. This is a trap.

 

[Keel]

Wow, one little phone call has really got you Chinese posters about as "butt-hurt" as it gets.

It seems only the frivolous americans and indians are more obssessed with Chinese ladies even at Tsai's level when matters between China and one of our Provinces are none of your business
So just chill out all together you 2 lots

Donald Trump Angers China With Historic Phone Call to Taiwan’s President

• Charlie Campbell / Beijing @charliecamp6ell

Updated: Dec. 2, 2016 11:31 PM

From left to right: Chiang Ying-ying—AP; Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Trump went where no U.S. commander-in-chief had gone since diplomatic relations were restored with China in 1979
Donald Trump was elected U.S. President partly because he’s a political outsider. His stump pledge to shake up the American political machine and “drain the swamp” struck a cord with disillusioned voters. Foreign relations, however, are squelchy for a reason.

Twice in the last week Trump has had phone conversations that have prompted consternation with nuclear powers. On Wednesday, he called Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif a “terrific guy” in comments sure to irk India. On Friday, it was China’s turn.

Trump went where no U.S. commander-in-chief had gone since diplomatic relations were restored with China in 1979 — by speaking directly to the President of Taiwan, the island-state of 23 million that is essentially an independent country but which Beijing still claims as a renegade province to be reclaimed by force if necessary.

First reported by Taiwanese media, the conversation between Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was later confirmed by the President-elect in a tweet. “The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!”

Beijing’s immediate response was brief and muted. “China firmly opposes any official interaction or military contact between [the] U.S. and Taiwan,” said China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement reported by Chinese state media. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the call was “just a small trick by Taiwan,” according to Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV.

But that didn’t stop China approaching the Obama administration for clarification, though White House officials declined to reveal the details of what was said. U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price told reporters “there is no change to our longstanding policy on cross-Strait issues.”
That’s because both the governments of Beijing and Taipei still officially claim dominion over their combined territory, a remnant of China’s civil war and the Nationalists’ flight across the strait in 1949 as Mao Zedong’s Communist Party seized power on the mainland.

Ties had warmed in recent years due to the “One China” policy — essentially that both sides agree they belong to the same nation but disagree on who is the legitimate power. However, Tsai comes from a political party that does not recognize “One China,” and has historically favored formal independence, even if Tsai has pragmatically stopped short of vocalizing this since her presidential campaign.

In Taipei, political analysts were taken by surprise by the phone call. “Nobody saw this coming,” said Professor Francis Hu, head of politics at Taichung university. “This will make cross-strait relations even more unpredictable in the next few months,” he said. “We already have a lot of problems for the time being and this action will complicate the scenario.”

Trump’s motivations for the call are unclear. Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama advocated a “rebalancing” to Asia in what analysts saw as an attempt to contain China’s rise. Trump, however, campaigned on a drawdown of international military commitments as well as protectionist trade policies such as import levies. Taiwan media have reported that the Trump Organization is involved in developing hotels in the northwestern city of Taoyuan.

According to a statement from Taiwan’s presidential office, “President Tsai and President Trump exchanged views and ideas on the future governance, in particular, promoting domestic economic development and strengthening national defense so as to enable people to enjoy a better life and safety.”

Trump’s call indicates that the President-elect is willing to shake up the status quo while also that he values America’s existing friendships. A Trump spokesman was quoted saying the President-elect was “well aware of what U.S. policy has been” on the Taiwan issue. And Trump seemed to indicate as such with a later tweet, which said: “Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.”

That is true. Yet international relations are full of quirks, and angering the leaders of 2.6 billion people — over a third of the world’s population — in three days renders more dangerous an already tense world.

With reporting by Nicola Smith/Taipei

http://time.com/4589641/donald-trump-china-taiwan-call/

 

[Beidou2020]

Time is a liberal outlet. They take everything Trump does and exaggerate it to make him look bad. These are pro-Hillary outlets.

 

[Beidou2020]

China should carefully manage this situation. Only China's enemies gain from making a massive deal about this.

The benefits of blowing this up is very little and the costs could be massive in the future. Guy like Trump has a massive ego. You have to understand his personality to understand him.

If Trump thinks China is trying to humiliate him for taking a call. He will use a hardline stance on China once in power. Building a strong rapport is very important with an incoming leader.

Trump represents the voice of the American rural middle class and they think China and Mexico have been responsible for all their problems. So if he thinks China is trying to 'get him', he will take his frustrations out on China.

America is a country that is p*ssed off right now. When the bully is angry, stay out of his way.

 

[Banglar Bir]

Trump Spoke With Taiwan President in Break With Decades of U.S. Policy
Leaders ‘noted close’ economic, political and security ties, Trump transition team said

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-spoke-with-taiwan-president-tsai-ing-wen-1480718423

ENLARGE
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen delivering a speech in Taipei in October. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By
DAMIAN PALETTA,

CAROL E. LEE and

ANDREW BROWNE
Updated Dec. 2, 2016 11:41 p.m. ET
908 COMMENTS

WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan on Friday, a conversation that breaks with decades of U.S. policy and could well infuriate the Chinese government.

The conversation between Mr. Trump and President Tsai Ing-wen runs counter to the longstanding effort by Beijing to block any formal U.S. diplomatic relations with the island off China’s coast. Chinese leaders consider Taiwan a Chinese territory, not a sovereign nation.

The Trump transition team didn’t give many details of the discussion but said Mr. Trump spoke with the Taiwanese leader, “who offered her congratulations.”


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It is believed to be the first time a president or president-elect has spoken with the leader of Taiwan since diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei were cut off in 1979.

Mr. Trump offered an explanation of the call in a Twitter post: “The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!”

A short time later, he tweeted again: “Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.”

Mr. Trump also has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping since he was elected.

The White House reacted quickly, moving to calm a potential diplomatic dilemma. Ned Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said “there is no change to our longstanding policy on cross-Strait issues” and that the U.S. remains “firmly committed to our ‘one China’ policy based on the three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.”

“As President Obama has said, we are committed to ensuring the smoothest possible transition for the incoming administration,” Mr. Price said in a statement. “Every president, regardless of party, has benefited from the expertise and counsel of State Department on matters like these.”

The White House didn’t learn of Mr. Trump’s phone call until after it had taken place, a senior administration official said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi referred to the call as “a petty trick on the part of the Taiwan side,” according to a notice published on multiple Chinese news portals and attributed to the ministry. The conversation between Mr. Trump and Ms. Tsai “can’t in any way change the ‘One China’ structure that has already taken form in international society,” he said.

Mr. Wang added that he didn’t believe the call would change U.S. support for the “One China” principle, which he called the “bedrock” of healthy relations between the U.S. and China. “We don’t wish to see any interference in or attacks on this political foundation,” he said.

Posts citing foreign media reports about the call were being removed from Chinese social media sites Saturday morning. Reaction could be so severe as to include sanctions against U.S. companies, said Victor Shih, associate professor in the school of global policy and strategy at the University of California at San Diego.

“China and the U.S. have both worked very, very hard to create a status quo where Taiwan has de facto autonomy without any international legal standing,” he said. “And with one phone call—I think—Trump did in fact undermine the status quo quite a bit.”

Mr. Trump’s political allies commended him for the call. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said it “reaffirms our commitment to the only democracy on Chinese soil.”

Ms. Tsai’s office confirmed the call in a statement, saying she and Mr. Trump discussed improving Taiwan’s economy and strengthening its defenses. During a roughly 10-minute conversation, Ms. Tsai expressed hope the U.S. and Taiwan would “establish a closer cooperative relationship,” it said.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency referred to the call as “a historic conversation” in a story published on its website Saturday morning.

“Not only did the Trump transition team actively publicize this information, it even used the title ‘Taiwanese President’ to refer to President Tsai,” it said.

The Trump transition team described the call in a brief statement: “During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political and security ties [that exist] between Taiwan, and the U.S. President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming president of Taiwan earlier this year.”

Ms. Tsai recently told The Wall Street Journal that Taiwan is a “a sovereign, independent country,” that like the people of Hong Kong, aspires to “democracy, freedom and human rights.”

China claims Taiwan as its territory, though the island hasn’t been governed by the mainland since a civil war more than 60 years ago. The U.S. gave up formal relations with Taiwan in favor of Beijing.

President Barack Obama has walked a fine line on the issue. China has lobbied his administration against agreeing to arms sales to Taiwan, but Mr. Obama has done so anyway. The most recent was in 2015 when the administration approved a $1.83 billion deal.

China pushed back against the decision, as it did on an earlier U.S. arms deal with Taiwan in 2011.

Beijing has been ramping up its efforts to isolate Taiwan amid a refusal by President Tsai to accept the so-called 1992 Consensus, under which both sides of the Taiwan Strait agreed to the concept of “One China” without defining what that means.

Beijing has been in a quandary over how to view Mr. Trump’s election. Some analysts in both countries believe a Trump presidency will be preoccupied with fixing America’s economic problems, presenting China with an opportunity to advance its strategic interests in East Asia. Others see him as a pragmatic deal-maker and discount his fiery rhetoric on trade.

By reaching out to Ms. Tsai, he will push China to decide whether to respond immediately or take more time to ascertain his intentions.

On Taiwan, unlike trade, China isn’t prepared to bargain. No Chinese leader could be seen backing down on the one issue that could realistically draw the U.S. and China into war; there is no political room to maneuver.

Several of Mr. Trump’s close Asia advisers believe successive administrations have sacrificed ties with democratic Taiwan as a way of pandering to Beijing.

One of those advisers, Peter Navarro, an economics professor at UC Irvine, advocates that officials in Washington stop referring to the “One China” principle, and use Taiwan to balance militarily against China’s rise.

Writing recently in the National Interest magazine, Mr. Navarro proposed that the U.S. should facilitate development of a Taiwan diesel submarine force, expand high-level visits to Taiwan, including by U.S. Cabinet members, and help Taiwan break out of its Beijing-imposed isolation by assisting it in efforts to join international organizations.

Mr. Trump’s relationship with China already was complicated by his insistence that he would take a tougher line on Chinese trade practices. He threatened during the campaign to slap tariffs on goods imported from China and to formally declare China a manipulator of its currency, a step that would carry economic penalties.

At the same time, though, Mr. Trump faces international problems on which he will need China’s help, including restraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions but—more than anything else—restraining North Korea’s nuclear program.

Mr. Trump has rattled longtime foundations of U.S. policy with his approach so far on the international stage.

He praised the leader of Pakistan in a conversation earlier this week and vowed to play any role he can in addressing the country’s problems, according to a readout of their discussion from the Pakistani government, which rankled neighboring India. He also praised the leader of Kazakhstan, seen as one of the region’s strongmen, in a separate conversation.

Mr. Trump also reportedly invited President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to visit the U.S. Mr. Obama canceled a meeting with Mr. Duterte earlier this year after he made a series of offensive comments about the president.

Mr. Trump did promise during his presidential campaign to upend decades of U.S. foreign policy, pushing to reverse longstanding tensions between the U.S. and Russia and also speaking with the leader of North Korea if necessary. This dismissal of existing foreign policy principles heartened some supporters, who believed the U.S. was bullied by other countries.

Gary Schmitt, a national security expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the phone call could reflect how Mr. Trump is willing to reject past practice and forge a new relationship with Taiwan, challenging China to follow through on its repeated warnings.

“With Trump, he has a tendency not to think that whatever the past legacies are is what he should be guided by,” Mr. Schmitt said. “It could turn out to be a positive thing for raising Taiwan relations in a more productive way. But it’s hard to know how much thought went into that call.”

But Mr. Trump’s moves also have sparked concern that he believes he can engage with adversaries who have threatened allies in Europe and Asia, or with others even when the consequences may not be predictable.

Nicholas Burns, a longtime State Department official who worked for both the Bush and Obama administrations, criticized the call in a Twitter message. “Taking a call from Taiwan’s leader a significant mistake by Trump,” Mr. Burns said. “Is he listening to the State Department?”

—Alexandra Berzon and Josh Chin contributed to this article.

Donald J. Trump's call with Taiwan's leader: Political mistake or calculated move?

 

[F-22Raptor]

Beijing today lodged a formal protest with the U.S. because President-elect Donald Trump, bypassing established diplomatic channels, spoke to Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen yesterday by telephone.

During the call, each congratulated the other—Tsai captured the presidency in a landslide in mid-January—and both spoke of close relations.

Beijing’s initial reactions, issued by China Central Television, the state broadcaster, and the foreign ministry, were mild, as was the protest, but expect tempers in the Chinese capital to flare in coming weeks.

Why? In a few short minutes over the phone, Trump implicitly recognized Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state, thereby breaking with decades of settled China policy.

The call, as many have noted is the first known interaction between a U.S. president or president-elect with his Taiwan counterpart since the Carter administration broke diplomatic relations with the island.

Regardless of what Trump and Tsai said to each other, the fact the call took place would be sufficient to upset Beijing’s leaders, who view Taiwan as part of their People’s Republic of China.

Tsai, on the other hand, believes she heads a state called the Republic of China. Formally, her government takes the position it has sovereignty over all China but, as a practical matter, acts as if it is sovereign over only the main island of Taiwan and scattered islands it in fact administers.

Washington recognizes Beijing as the lawful government of China but in substance maintains the dispute between the two sides is unresolved and insists the resolution of the matter, when it occurs, be peaceful. The Taiwan Relations Act, U.S. legislation passed in 1979, provides for unofficial ties with Taipei and creates limited obligations to protect the island from Beijing. This American posture has continued, with only minor modification, since that time.

Trump, however, seemed to change everything Friday. “During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States,” notes the readout of the Trump transition team of the historic conversation. “President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year.”

Beijing will not miss the fact that Trump called Tsai “President,” an implicit recognition she is the head of a state separate and apart from China. And as if to emphasize the point, he labeled her country “Taiwan.”

Tsai rode to victory as the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, which wants “Taiwan” recognized as a separate state that does not include the “Mainland,” in other words, China.

About two-thirds of the island’s population, in survey after survey, self-identify as “Taiwanese,” in other words, not “Chinese.” Less than five percent call themselves Chinese and not Taiwanese. Beijing is worried that Taiwan, with its growing Taiwanese identity, will formally break away from “China” and declare itself the “Republic of Taiwan.” Tsai has yet to do so, but Trump just did.

And what can make this situation even more explosive? Beijing threatens to use force to absorb Taiwan, and the Communist Party of China primarily bases its legitimacy on its ability to “unify” the “Motherland.”

Significantly, Trump did not inform the White House or State Department beforehand. Nor did he consult what is effectively America’s liaison office in Taipei, the American Institute in Taiwan. All of them would have tried to stop him.

But the president-elect did not owe anything to any of them. As Henry Kissinger told Fareed Zakaria after the election, “he has absolutely no baggage.” His policies are his own, and he will write on his blank slate as he sees fit.

As a result, many are now expressing alarm. Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a tweet acknowledged that “consistency is a means, not an end” but suggested Trump’s moves, including the call with Tsai, “are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan.” “That’s how wars start,” the Connecticut Democrat wrote.

Evan Medeiros, former Asia director on the National Security Council, told the Financial Times that Chinese leaders “will see this as a highly provocative action, of historic proportions” and that he is worried “Trump is setting a foundation of enduring mistrust and strategic competition.”

What Trump has done is not “reset” Washington’s relations with China but put them on an entirely new footing. Up to now, Beijing has kept the initiative, and American presidents, especially George W. Bush and Obama, have merely reacted, trying to build friendly relations in spite of increasingly bold Chinese moves. The concept was that Washington had to maintain cooperative ties, increasingly considered an end in itself.

Trump, by seemingly not caring about Beijing’s reaction, has cut China down to size, telling its autocrats he does not fear them.

Just about everyone assumed the Chinese would create a crisis for Trump in his first months in office, just as they created crises for both George W. Bush—in April 2001 with the detention of the crew of the U.S. Navy EP-3—and his successor—the harassment of the Navy’s unarmed reconnaissance vessels, the Impeccable and Victorious, in March and May 2009.

Instead, Trump took the initiative and created a crisis for China’s leaders, and he did that more than a month before taking the oath of office.

Therefore, Beijing is bound to find the next months unfamiliar and unsettling.

There is, if you need a metaphor, a rather large bull in the china shop. And, yes, that could be a good thing.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-donald-trumps-taiwan-call-changes-everything-18605

Trump's not even President yet, and he's already gotten under China's skin. This will be an interesting next 4 years.