Trump risks angering China with Taiwan call
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON United States President-elect Donald Trump spoke yesterday with the president of Taiwan, a move that will be sure to anger China.
It is highly unusual, probably unprecedented, for a US president or president-elect to speak directly with a leader of Taiwan, a self-governing island the US broke diplomatic ties with in 1979.
Washington has pursued a socalled ‘‘one China’’ policy since 1979, when it shifted diplomatic recognition of China from the government in Taiwan to the communist government on the mainland. Under that policy, the US recog- nises Beijing as representing China but retains unofficial ties with Taiwan.
A statement from Trump’s transition team said he spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who offered her congratulations for his election victory.
Trump tweeted later: ‘‘The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!’’
The Taiwanese presidential office said Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of US relations with Taiwan.
China’s embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The call is the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the November 8 election. He has held calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily lent by the State Department, which oversees US diplomacy.
Trump was ‘‘well aware’’ of what US policy had been on Taiwan, his spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said.
Tsai was democratically elected in January and took office in May.
Trump’s supporters moved yesterday to halt the Green Party’s requests for recounts of the presidential votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, three ‘‘Rust Belt’’ states which bucked their history of supporting Democrats and gave Trump thin wins in the election. AP, Reuters