BEIJING (AP) — China says any change in U.S. policy favoring formal recognition of Taiwan will “seriously” damage peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and undermine relations between Beijing and Washington.

The comments from the spokesman for the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office Wednesday follow President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks over the weekend that he didn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy” unless the U.S. could gain benefits from China in trade and other areas.

Under the one-China policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as China’s government and maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan, which broke from the Chinese mainland in 1949.

Spokesman An Fengshan said breaching the one-China principle “will seriously affect peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” </s> BEIJING -- China said Monday that it has “serious concern” about President-elect Donald Trump’s latest comments suggesting he is reconsidering America’s relationship with Taiwan.

Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Monday that Mr. Trump’s comments in a television interview over the weekend raised the possibility that U.S.-China relations would be “badly affected.” Geng said the “one China” policy was the “political foundation” of any Sino-American ties.

Impact of President-elect Trump's Taiwan call, China criticisms

“If it is compromised or interrupted, the sound and steady growth of China-U.S. relationship and the cooperation in important fields between the two countries will be out of the question. We urge the new U.S. administration and its leadership to fully recognize the sensitivity of the Taiwan problem and stick to One China policy,” Geng said.

The United States switched relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. China considers Taiwan to be part of China and any reference to a separate Taiwanese government as a grave insult.

But Mr. Trump said on “Fox News Sunday” that he doesn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”

In a commentary published hours after Mr. Trump’s remarks to Fox, China’s state-run tabloid the Global Times blasted the president-elect as “naïve,” even “immature” for suggesting he could change the U.S. stance on the one-China policy.

The opinion piece suggests that Mr. Trump read up on U.S.-China relations and stop resorting to “bullying,” but it also leaves the new U.S. leader room to change his mind, suggesting he is “very fickle” and “may eat his words sometime soon.” </s> China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday warned that any change in the one-China policy, if pursued by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, will impair ties between Beijing and Washington.

"Upholding the 'one-China' principle is the political basis for developing China-U.S. ties. If this basis is interfered with or damaged then the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in important areas is out of the question," China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing on Monday.

Mr. Geng was responding to a spate of queries following a Sunday interview on Fox News by Mr. Trump, where he questioned U.S. persistence with a one-China policy, unless there were concessions from Beijing 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,” Mr. Trump observed.

He also blamed China for devaluing its currency, and not cooperating with Washington on North Korea and the South China Sea.

The one-China policy underscores recognition of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan — a position that has been held by the United States since 1979.

"China has noted the report and expresses serious concern about it. I want to stress that the Taiwan issue concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involves China's core interests," Mr. Geng observed.

Earlier, an editorial in China’s Global Times newspaper, affiliated with the Communist Party of China (CPC), asserted that the one-China policy, recognising Taiwan as a part of China, was non-negotiable. It rebuked the U.S. president-elect for being “as ignorant as a child in terms of foreign policy.”

The daily warned that Beijing would have no reason to “put peace above using force to take back Taiwan” if Mr. Trump retracted from the policy, in place since 1979, which recognises Taiwan as part of China.

In its response, the Global Times made it unambiguous that the one-China policy “is not something that can be negotiated”. It added, “It seems Trump knows only about business. He thinks he can put a price on everything.”

“At that time [after Trump abandons the one-China policy] ... mainland China will put forward a series of decisive new Taiwan policies. We will prove that the United States no longer dominates the Taiwan Strait.”

The daily counselled Mr. Trump to “study foreign affairs humbly”. “He particularly needs to learn what the relationship between China and U.S. is about.”

Some Chinese academics point out that Mr. Trump’s remarks were not driven by the President-elect’s inexperience in foreign policy. “It appears that the remarks were made quite deliberately. Perhaps, Mr. Trump and his team want to make a deal with China, based on the Taiwan issue. But China, cannot make any deal, which questions its sovereignty over Taiwan,” says Liu Zongyi, of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies when contacted by The Hindu.

Reuters quoted Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, as saying that Mr. Trump was possibly using the Taiwan issue to try and strike a bargain with the United States over trade. "He wants to get the best possible trade deal with China he can so that he can boost the U.S. economy," he observed. </s> China Expresses 'Serious Concern' Over Trump's Comments On Taiwan

Enlarge this image toggle caption Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News that he wouldn't feel "bound by a 'One China' policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."

The One China policy has guided U.S.-China discourse since 1979, when Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing and downgraded its embassy in Taiwan.

The Chinese government has responded to Trump's comments by expressing "serious concerns."

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said that any damage to the "political foundation" of the U.S.-China diplomatic relationship could make further cooperation between the two countries "out of the question," The Associated Press reports.

Trump's comments came more than a week after he spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen on the phone, a startling departure from long-standing diplomatic policy. Leaders of the U.S. and Taiwan haven't communicated directly in decades.

"The United States and China have agreed on the one-China policy – a diplomatic recognition of Taiwan as part of One China — for four decades," NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Shanghai.

"Chinese state media were quick to respond to Trump's comments," Rob says. "The Global Times printed an op-ed stating the One China policy is not for sale, going on to say that Trump is playing a dangerous game in which he's treating Taiwan as a pawn."

Global Times, which is controlled by the Communist Party, also called Trump "as ignorant as a child" when it comes to diplomacy, language far stronger than that used by Chinese officials, the AP reports.

Politics Bob Dole Lobbied Trump Team On Outreach To Taiwan Bob Dole Lobbied Trump Team On Outreach To Taiwan Listen · 2:28 2:28

"On Thursday, less than a week after Trump's conversation with Taiwan's president, China's military flew a nuclear-capable bomber over disputed islands in the South China Sea," Rob notes.

Robert Daly, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, spoke to NPR's Morning Edition after Trump's controversial phone call with Taiwan's president.

"Taiwan is China's core interest," Daly said. "And it defines a core interest as something it is willing to go to war over." </s> BEIJING | China’s foreign minister warned that any moves to damage Beijing’s core interests would be self-detrimental after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he could use the way in which America deals with Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

Wang Yi’s comments late Monday came a day after Trump said in a television interview that he didn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy.” Washington, however, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to the policy that means it maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory.

Since recognizing the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the U.S. has adhered to the one-China policy, recognizing Beijing as the capital of China and maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. American law, however, requires the U.S. to ensure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to treat all threats to the island as matters of serious concern.

China split from Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the island as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

“I can clearly say, whether it is the authorities of Tsai Ing-wen, or anyone else or any power in the world, if they attempt to harm this principle or China’s core interests, the only result will be that they will smash their own foot while trying to lift a stone,” Wang said after meeting with his Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter in Switzerland.

Earlier Monday, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said in Beijing that established policy is the “political foundation” of any diplomatic relationship between China and the U.S., and that any damage to it could render cooperation “out of the question.”

“We urge the new U.S. leader and government to fully understand the seriousness of the Taiwan issue, and to continue to stick to the one-China policy,” Geng said.

The comments by Wang and Geng are the strongest public condemnation China has made of Trump’s criticisms of current American policy toward Taiwan.

Beijing was already angered by Trump’s Dec. 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to a Taiwanese leader in nearly four decades. China considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.

Over the weekend, Trump told “Fox News Sunday” that he wouldn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”

“Why should some other nation be able to say I can’t take a call?” he said. “I think it actually would’ve been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it.”

In Washington, the White House and State Department both reaffirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to a one-China policy.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said “the United States government, under the leadership of President Obama, has been and remains firmly committed to our one-China policy.” He added that “the Obama administration does not view Taiwan and our relationship with Taiwan as a bargaining chip.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby the department had “continued what has been a bipartisan approach for the past 40 years with respect to a one-China policy.”

Chinese officials have been restrained in their responses so far. They may be still trying to learn how to make their positions clear to Trump without feeding a vicious circle of insults and heightened tensions, said Dali Yang, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.

However, Trump’s suggestion that he could negotiate on Taiwan likely went too far for China, Yang said.

“He expected for China to bargain again for the one-China position, perhaps by giving up something on trade or something of that nature,” Yang said. “This is actually the foundation of the U.S.-China relationship, rather than something to be bargained over.”

Associated Press writers Louise Watt in Beijing and Matthew Pennington in Washington and AP researchers Yu Bing and Liu Zheng contributed to this report. </s> (CNN) China's foreign ministry said Saturday it has lodged a complaint with the United States over a controversial phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan's President that has overturned decades of diplomatic protocol.

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.

This means there are no formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan -- so Trump's decision to take Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's call could risk a major upset

"We have noticed relevant reports and lodged solemn representation with the relevant side in the United States," said a statement Saturday from China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

"I must point out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory ... The 'one China' principle is the political foundation of China-US relations.

"We urge the relevant side in the US to adhere to the 'one China' policy, abide by the pledges in the three joint China-US communiques, and handle issues related to Taiwan carefully and properly to avoid causing unnecessary interference to the overall China-U.S. relationship."

Earlier Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi labeled the phone call "a shenanigan by the Taiwan side" when he was asked about it on the sidelines of a foreign policy seminar.

"The 'one China' policy is the cornerstone of a healthy China-U.S. relationship. I hope this political foundation won't be disrupted or damaged," he said.

First time in decades

Trump's transition team said Friday that the President-elect had chatted with Tsai, who passed along her congratulations.

"During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties (existing) between Taiwan and the United States. President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year."

The chat marks the first publicly reported call between a US President or President-elect and the leader of Taiwan since Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979, said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It is perhaps the first major sign of the unpredictability that Trump has vowed to bring to long-held US relations with the rest of the world.

The call, first reported by the Financial Times, risks throwing US-China relations into a tailspin before Trump takes the oath of office January 20.

And it has prompted questions over whether Trump intends a shift in US policy, or if this was a blunder by a team with limited experience of international affairs.

Trump emphasized Friday night that Taipei initiated the call.

"The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!" tweeted the President-elect.

The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016

He soon followed up by tweeting, "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016

Taiwan's President published a statement Friday night about the phone call on an official website, which she described as an "intimate and relaxed conversation" lasting 10 minutes.

The two also shared their views on important policy points, the statement said, according to a translation, "in particular, to promote the domestic economy and strengthen national defense, allowing the people better lives and a guarantee of security. The two briefly exchanged opinions on the situation in the Asia region."

According to Taiwan's Presidential spokesman Alex Huang, Huang told CNN via text message that both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact, but would not give any further details including exactly when they agreed to the call.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on "AC360" that she wouldn't go beyond what the transition team statement said. But the President-elect was fully aware of the call's implications, Conway suggested.

"He either will disclose or not disclose the full contents of that conversation but he's well aware of what US policy has been," Conway said.

The Trump Organization is also denying reports that it is considering building luxury hotels in the Taiwanese city of Taoyuan after the city's mayor was quoted last month as saying a representative did visit.

The mayor Cheng Wen-tsan told local media the Trump representative did visit in September and that company was interested in developing there.

"There have been no authorized visits to Taiwan on behalf of Trump Hotels for the purposes of development nor are there any active conversations. Trump Organization is not planning any expansion into Taiwan," a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization Saturday told CNN.

The spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified by name, added that the Trump Organization employee who was there was not part of the development team and was not there for those reasons but for sales purposes for existing Trump hotels.

'No change'

By Friday night, China had already reached out to the Obama administration. White House officials declined to comment on diplomatic discussions.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said "there is no change to our longstanding policy on cross-Strait issues."

"We remain firmly committed to our 'one China' policy based on the three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act," he said. "Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations."

A different Obama administration official said there was no contact with either the White House or State Department about the call beforehand.

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Kissinger -- secretary of state from 1973-77 -- is credited with secret diplomacy that helped Nixon open up Communist China to America and the West.

During their Beijing meeting, Kissinger told Xi "that he believes it is the expectation of the U.S. new administration to facilitate sustained, stable and better growth of U.S.-China relations," Xinhua reported.

'Major pivots'

The United States acknowledged China's claim that there is one China and that Taiwan is part of China in a joint communique signed in 1979 at the time of the formal establishment of relations between Washington and Beijing.

Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, publicly blasted Trump for his actions in a series of tweets.

While it will soon be Trump's right to shift policy, alliances and strategy, Murphy said, "what has happened in the last 48 hours is not a shift. These are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan. That's how wars start."

He added that "if they aren't pivots - just radical temporary deviations - allies will walk if they have no clue what we stand for. Just as bad."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated that Trump transition adviser Stephen Yates was in Taiwan and was involved in facilitating the call. </s> Sovereignty question: The ‘One-China policy’ underscores recognition of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. Picture shows a protest in Taiwan against a meeting in 2015 between the leaders of Taiwan and China. | Photo Credit: Chiang Ying-ying

China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday warned that any change in the U.S.’s one-China policy will impair ties between Beijing and Washington.

“Upholding the ‘one China’ principle is the political basis for developing China-U.S. ties. If this basis is interfered with or damaged, then the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in important areas is out of the question,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing on Monday.

Mr. Geng was responding to a spate of queries following a Sunday interview on Fox News by President-elect Donald Trump, where he questioned the U.S.’s persistence with the one-China policy, unless there were concessions from Beijing 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,” Mr. Trump said.

He also blamed China for devaluing its currency, and not cooperating with Washington on North Korea and the South China Sea.

The one-China policy underscores recognition of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan — a position that has been held by the U.S. since 1979.

“China has noted the report and expresses serious concern about it. I want to stress that the Taiwan issue concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involves China’s core interests,” Mr. Geng said.

Earlier, an editorial in the Global Times newspaper, affiliated with the Communist Party of China, asserted that the one-China policy was non-negotiable. It rebuked the U.S. President-elect for being “as ignorant as a child in terms of foreign policy”.

The daily warned that Beijing would have no reason to “put peace above using force to take back Taiwan” if Mr. Trump retracted from the policy, in place since 1979.

The one-China policy “is not something that can be negotiated... It seems Trump knows only about business. He thinks he can put a price on everything”, Global Times said.

“At that time [after Trump abandons the one-China policy]... mainland China will put forward a series of decisive new Taiwan policies. We will prove that the United States no longer dominates the Taiwan Strait.”

“He particularly needs to learn what the relationship between China and U.S. is about.”

Some Chinese academics point out that Mr. Trump’s remarks were not driven by his inexperience in foreign policy.

“It appears that the remarks were made quite deliberately. Perhaps, Mr. Trump and his team want to make a deal with China, based on the Taiwan issue. But China, cannot make any deal, which questions its sovereignty over Taiwan,” Liu Zongyi of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies told The Hindu.

Reuters quoted Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, as saying Mr. Trump was possibly using the Taiwan issue to try and strike a bargain with China over trade. “He wants to get the best possible trade deal with China he can so that he can boost the U.S. economy.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman says these comments raise the possibility that U.S.-China relations could be adversely affected, and that the One-China policy is the political foundation of the ties between the two countries.