Beijing: Chinese state media said Sunday that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “inexperience” led him to accept a phone call from Taiwan’s leader but warned that any breach of the One China policy would “destroy” Sino-US relations.
The call “exposed nothing but (Mr Trump’s) and his transition team’s inexperience in dealing with foreign affairs”, said an editorial in the English-language China Daily newspaper, adding there was “no need to over-interpret” it.
But it hinted at the possible economic impact of any breakdown in ties, saying that China held $1.19 trillion in US treasury bonds and had bilateral trade worth $558 billion with the country last year. “If Trump wants to overstep the One China principle, he will destroy Sino-US ties,” it said.
Mr Trump’s call with Tsai Ing-wen on Friday broke with decades of US foreign policy precedent, raising questions on whether it marked a deliberate pivot away from Washington’s official One China stance.
China regards self-ruling Taiwan as part of its own territory, awaiting reunification under Beijing’s rule, and any US move that would imply support for independence would likely trigger fury.
Mr Trump congratulated Ms Tsai on her election as president this year and discussed the “close economic, political and security ties” of the US and Taiwan, according to the President-elect’s office.
Beijing said it made solemn representations to the US after the call, which was initiated by Taiwan. But its response has largely been muted, with most criticism in state media directed at Ms Tsai, who has enraged mainland authorities by taking a more independent stance than her predecessor.
The Global Times in an editorial on Saturday threatened Ms Tsai would “pay the price” if Taiwan “crosses the red line”, and it attributed the call to her administration’s “tricks”.
After the call, the outgoing Obama administration said it had not changed its stance on the issue.
