China warns Trump of ‘crushing his own toes’ on Taiwan in latest rebuke

BEIJING: China offered its sternest rebuke yet to Donald Trump, saying anyone who challenges Beijing’s interests in Taiwan will “lift a rock only to crush his own toes”.

“If he tries to sabotage the One China policy or harm China’s core interests, ultimately he will lift a rock only to crush his own toes,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said Monday in Switzerland according to comments posted on the ministry’s web site.

China is closely monitoring developments, he said, issuing a warning against “any person or force in the world” looking to play tough with Beijing on Taiwan.

The comments come after Trump said he could jettison Washington’s decades-old ‘One China policy’ – a diplomatic dodge allowing the US to simultaneously do business with Beijing and Taipei. On Tuesday Chinese media sent another fusillade toward the ‘presumptuous and ill- guided’ president- elect, slamming his approach to Taiwan as a recipe for disaster.

“Beijing should be prepared for the worst- case scenarios, particularly regarding Taiwan, as a presumptuous and ill-guided Trump looks set to usher in an era of turmoil,” the state-run China Daily said in an editorial accompanied by a cartoon of the billionaire politician sitting on a powder keg.

“Trump’s bloated and bloating ego may prevent him from seeing that is the likely outcome that lies ahead if he persists with this gamble.”

China regards self-ruling Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification under Beijing’s rule.

The nationalistic Global Times newspaper warned Trump in its editorial Tuesday that “pride goes before a fall”, and said he had lost the ‘strategic initiative’ by revealing his strategy of ‘blackmailing’ China. — AFP