Defending Taiwan call, Trump lashes out at China

PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD Trump is using Twitter to renew his defence of his engagement with the leader of Taiwan, a breach of diplomatic protocol as the US shifted recognition from Taiwan to China nearly 40 years ago.

In a series of Sunday evening tweets, Trump groused about criticism that he didn’t work with China ahead of the contact. China considers Taiwan a rogue province.

“Did China ask us if it was OK to carry out a number of actions such as build up disputed islands in the South China Sea or take economic measures hurtful to the United States,” Trump tweeted.

The Taiwanese leader, Tsai Ing-wen, called Trump on Friday to congratulate him on the election in communication arranged by an American third party. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency, citing anonymous sources on Saturday, said Edwin Feulner, founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a “crucial figure” in setting up communication channels between the sides.

The call prompted an understated complaint from China to the US government. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday the contact was “just a small trick by Taiwan” that hebelievedwouldnotchangeuspolicytoward China, according to Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV.

“The One-china policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-us relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged,” Wang was quoted as saying. Chinese officials said they lodged a complaint with the US and reiterated a commitment to seeking “reunification” with the island, which they consider a renegade province. The call was the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the November-8 election. He has apparently undertaken calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily given by the State Department, which oversees US diplomacy.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence Sunday shrugged off the attention to the incident as media hype. “It was a courtesy call,” Pence told NBC’S “Meet the Press”. AP

Reuters Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the phone with US president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei on Saturday.