Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on
the phone with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump at her office in
Taipei, Taiwan, in this handout photo made available December 3, 2016.
Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS
China
lodged a diplomatic protest on Saturday after U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump spoke by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, but
blamed the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own for the “petty”
move.
The 10-minute telephone call with
Taiwan’s leadership was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president
since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from
Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China”.
China’s Foreign Ministry said it had
lodged “stern representations” with what it called the “relevant U.S.
side”, urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any
unnecessary disturbances in ties.
“The one China principle is the political basis of the China-U.S. relationship,” it said.
The wording implied the protest had gone to the Trump camp, but the ministry provided no explanation.
Speaking earlier, hours after Friday’s
telephone call, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointedly blamed Taiwan
for the exchange, rather than Trump, a billionaire businessman with
little foreign policy experience.
“This is just the Taiwan side engaging
in a petty action, and cannot change the ‘one China’ structure already
formed by the international community,” Wang said at an academic forum
in Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying.
“I believe that it won’t change the longstanding ‘one China’ policy of the United States government.”
In comments at the same forum, Wang
noted how quickly President Xi Jinping and Trump had spoken by telephone
after Trump’s victory, and that Trump had praised China as a great
country.
Wang said that exchange had sent “a very
positive signal about the future development of Sino-U.S. relations”,
according to the ministry’s website. Taiwan was not mentioned in that
call, according to an official Chinese transcript.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office also
called the conversation a “petty” move by Taiwan that does not change
the island’s status as part of China. Beijing is resolute in opposing
independence for Taiwan, it added.
Trump said on Twitter that Tsai had
initiated the call he had with the Taiwan president. “The President of
Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the
Presidency. Thank you!” he said.
Credit: reuters
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