Are Trump’s America and Xi’s China on a collision course?
US president-elect’s questioning of the one-China policy may have been a gambit to gain an economic advantage – but in testing such a core principle of Chinese identity he risks a crisis far greater than bargained for
Chinese diplomacy has come far since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. But there is one cornerstone to its foreign policy that has stood unchanged – and been unnegotiable – ever since Mao Zedong (毛澤東). The one-China policy.
So when US President-elect Donald Trump indicated he was considering jettisoning his nation’s four-decade understanding with Beijing regarding the matter it inevitably sent shock waves across the Pacific.
And if Trump makes good on his words after coming to office, such “waves” will be more like a tsunami in the Taiwan Strait – one that has potential to sink relations between the world’s two most influential nations.
WATCH: Trump questions continuing one-China policy
“China is more likely to let the whole relationship with the United States deteriorate in order to show its resolve on the Taiwan issue,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at Cornell University.
Since his election last month, Trump has repeatedly challenged China’s most cherished principle. This month he became the first US leader to speak to Taiwan’s president since 1979 when he received a phone call from Tsai Ing-wen, enraging Beijing. He also pointedly referred to Tsai as the “president of Taiwan” – a break from previous protocol which refers to those holding the office as the island’s “leader”.
Last Sunday, in an interview with Fox News, he went even further, questioning why Washington should continue to observe the one-China policy unless Beijing was willing to make concessions on policies seen as obstructive to American interests. (He identified China’s exchange policy, tariffs and military buildup in the South China Sea, as well as North Korea’s nuclear programme).
While the White House moved to limit the damage – with spokesman Josh Earnest reconfirming US commitment to the policy – Trump’s remarks have nevertheless shocked the diplomatic world, raising fears over the impact on China-US relations and on global security.
