Obama on his KNEES: Desperate US reassures Beijing it AGREES with 'one China' policy
THE White House has urgently stated it has been in touch with Chinese officials to reaffirm the “one China" policy following Donald Trump’s phone call with the Taiwanese leader.
White House reassures China over Trump's chat with Taiwan
US officials hastily clarified the country's official position regarding China and Taiwan, reassuring Beijing that it still firmly stands behind the Communist country’s “one China policy”.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated "our country's continued commitment to a one-China policy”, which has been in place for the past 40 years.
But the four-decade US foreign policy was ended by Donald Trump’s 10 minute conversation with the Taiwanese president.
The Obama administration was forced into damage-limitation after the call last week, with Mr Earnest adding: “If the President-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe.”
Mr Trump breached political protocol by having the conversation with president Tsai Ing-wen, inflaming relations with the Chinese.
The outspoken billionaire later tweeted: "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!"
The pair reportedly spoke about issues related to economic development and strengthening national defence, in the first chat between a president or president-elect and a Taiwanese leader since 1979.
Addressing the issue, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi stated the “one China” policy was crucial to prosperous US-Sino relations.
He said: “This is just the Taiwan side engaging in a petty action, and cannot change the ‘one China’ structure already formed by the international community.
Our country's continued commitment to a one-China policy
“I believe that it won’t change the longstanding one China policy of the United States government.
“The ‘one China’ principle is the cornerstone of the healthy development of Sino-US ties, and we hope this political basis is not interfered with or damaged in any way.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a formal complaint with the US, warning how critical the One Policy was to good relations between the two superpowers.
The ‘one policy’ follows Beijing’s stance of not recognising special territories, including Taiwan, Hong Kong an Macau as independent but as part of China.
But Trump appeared irked by the speculation surrounding the call and the negative response from China, as he later tweeted: "Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."
And his tweets on China did not stop there, with a string of messages criticising Chinese policy posted online.
He said: “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 their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!”
Commentators have speculated whether his latest move signals a new direction in US foreign policy, or whether the politically inexperienced tycoon may have made a diplomatic error.
He has previously attracted criticism as when selecting his cabinet team he tweeted: “Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!"
His turn of phrase caused many to liken his running of the White House to The Apprentice, where he starred on the reality TV show.