China’s Foreign Ministry firmly pushed back Saturday against President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the “One China” policy on Taiwan is negotiable, calling it the “political foundation” of the relationship between the US and China.
China views Taiwan as a renegade province and, since 1979, the US has acknowledged Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, with US-China relations governed by a set of protocols known as the “One China” policy.
“The ‘One China’ principle is the political foundation of Sino-US relations and it is non-negotiable. We urge the relevant side in the US to recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by the pledges by successive US administrations from both parties,” spokesman Lu Kang said.
He was responding to a question about Trump’s remarks Friday in The Wall Street Journal in which he said, “Everything is under negotiation, including ‘One China.’ “
“The pledges include adopting the ‘One China’ policy, adhering to the principles in the three Sino-US joint communiques and properly handling the Taiwan issue. Only doing so would prevent the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations as well as bilateral cooperation in major areas from being affected,” Lu added.
The Chinese official highlighted the international community’s view on the issue in a statement.
“There is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory and the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China,” Lu said. “These are facts recognized by the international community and no one can change this.”
China’s foreign ministry lodged a complaint last month with the United States after a phone call between Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen overturned decades of diplomatic protocol, because there are no formal diplomatic relations between the US and the province.
At the time, Trump said he was merely accepting a congratulatory call from the Taiwan leader, tweeting, “Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.”
