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‘I don’t know why we have to be bound by a one-China policy’: Trump questions decades-long stance
US president-elect says he only knew about call from Taiwan’s President Tsai for ‘an hour or two’ in advance
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US president-elect Donald Trump has questioned whether Washington should continue its one-China policy if Beijing does not make concessions on trade and other issues.
“I don’t know why we have to be bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade,” Trump said on Fox News Sunday in response to a question on his taking a phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The one-China policy recognises that Taiwan is part of China, but the US has remained ambiguous on the issue.
Despite breaking decades of US diplomatic tradition by taking the call, Trump admitted that he only heard it was coming an hour or two in advance, rejecting claims by some of his aides that he had planned the move for weeks.
I don’t know why we have to be bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade
Besides trade, Trump said China was not cooperating with the US on its handling of the yuan, on North Korea, and tensions in the South China Sea.
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Trump’s comments come amid uncertainty over his pick for secretary of state – Washington’s top diplomat – with relatively unknown ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson seemingly topping the list after a search that included interviews with one-time Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and ex-CIA director David Petraeus.
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