Any US shift away from one-China policy would by ‘exceedingly dangerous’, experts warn

A group of prominent China experts have called on US President Donald Trump to be tough on China on a variety of security and trade issues, but warn any radical change to US policy on China, especially the cross-strait status quo, could have dire consequences.

The experts expressed serious concern over the development of ties, which have been thrown into disarray since his election victory.

Referring to Trump’s remarks on the sensitive question of Taiwan, the group of top China academics and former officials drawn from across the political spectrum said it would be “exceedingly dangerous” to abandon the one-China policy, which has served as the basis for Sino-US ties since 1979.

“The incoming administration should be mindful of lessons from the past,” said the report, which was released on Tuesday. “No national interest is furthered by abandoning or conditioning this policy on other issues. To do so would very likely end up increasing Taiwan’s vulnerabilities, destabilising the Asia-Pacific region, and jeopardising broad US interests.”

The report, convened by the Asia Society and the University of California San Diego, includes the views of many influential China specialists, such as Orville Schell, Andrew Nathan, David Shambaugh and former officials including Susan Shirk, Kurt Campbell and Evan Medeiros.