The Presidential Office yesterday stayed mum after US president-elect Donald Trump questioned the necessity for Washington to adhere to its long-standing “one China” policy.
In an interview with the Fox News Sunday program, Trump first denied that a Dec. 2 telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and himself was planned weeks in advance.
“Not weeks. I took a call. I heard the call was coming probably an hour or two before,” Trump said.
Photo: CNA
He then went on to question the need for Washington to stick to its “one China” policy.
“I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but 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,” he said.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) yesterday morning said the office had no comments about Trump’s remarks on the Fox show.
Huang also declined to respond directly to Trump’s claim that he only learned that Tsai was to call him shortly before it occurred.
The contact process and details regarding the call between Tsai and Trump were conducted in accordance with the customary practices for Taiwan-US interactions, Huang said.
“We do not have any further explanation,” he said.
The US has endorsed a “one China” policy since 1972, when then-US president Richard Nixon signed the Shanghai Communique with then-Chinese premier Zhou Enlai (周恩來).
Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 and switched recognition to Beijing. Since then there had been no known direct communications between the leaders or prospective leaders of the nations until the Dec. 2 telephone call.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also downplayed Trump’s comments on the “one China” policy, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) urged the US to take into account stability across the Taiwan Strait before commenting on cross-strait issues.
Ma was asked for a comment as he attended a forum in Taipei marking the 70th anniversary of the nation’s occupation of Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea.
“Since Trump has not yet been inaugurated, it makes more sense for me to wait until after he takes office on Jan. 20 to comment on the matter to see if he still appears to stand by this stance,” Ma said.
As for the possible impact of the phone call on Taiwan-US-China relations, Ma said the situation was too uncertain for him to make a clear judgement.
However, the KMT appeared more worried about Trump’s remarks. An unstable Taiwan Strait could destabilize Northeast Asia and even the entire world, the party said in a statement.
“Therefore, we urge any country to give priority to cross-strait stability before giving their opinions about issues related to the Taiwan Strait,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) said.
Hu said cross-strait tensions have already been raised due to Tsai’s refusal to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus” and her failure to produce any pragmatic solutions to cross-strait issues since taking office.
“Tsai, by talking on the telephone with Trump, gave Beijing a slap in the face,” Hu said.
“We urge the president to refrain from putting the lives of 23 million Taiwanese at risk, and to let cross-strait peace and stability take precedence,” he said.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng
‘HONORED’: The DPP’s Lin Fei-fan said friends working in the foreign media, the diplomatic corps and at think tanks congratulated him for making the sanctions list The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday slammed China for sanctioning Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and six other Taiwanese officials for being “diehard separatists,” saying its attempt to intimidate Taiwanese would backfire. China has no authority to dictate the actions of Taiwanese, because Taiwan is a democratic nation that upholds the rule of law, and would never yield to intimidation and threats from an authoritarian regime, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency earlier yesterday reported that the Taiwan Work Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee has imposed
THAI ASSISTANCE: The representative office in Thailand worked with local authorities to help trafficking victims return home, while one in the group has been charged Eight Taiwanese who were lured to Cambodia with lucrative job offers only to be forced to work illegally were brought home on Sunday night in a joint effort between Taiwanese and Thai authorities, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. Nine people — six men and three women aged 23 to 42 — boarded China Airlines Flight CI-836 from Bangkok, with assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:55pm and were taken to the Aviation Police Bureau for questioning before entering home isolation in accordance with Taiwan’s COVID-19 regulations. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday
ORDNANCE: Under a five-year plan, the Chungshan Institute would make about 200 Hsiung Feng II and III/IIIE, and Hsiung Sheng missiles, an official said The Ministry of National Defense plans to counter the Chinese navy by producing more than 1,000 anti-ship missiles over the next five years, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The comments came after China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy began a series of military drills in a simulated naval blockade of Taiwan proper following a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Although China has in the past few years rapidly produced many warships and added them to its navy, these large vessels are more suited for warfare on the open sea than in the narrow
The organizers of WorldPride 2025 have canceled the Kaohsiung event because its licensing group, InterPride, demanded that it remove “Taiwan” from the event’s name, they said in a statement yesterday. Kaohsiung was to host WorldPride Taiwan 2025 after being granted the right by the global LGBTQ advocacy group. However, the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee said that InterPride recently gave “abrupt notice” asking it to change the name of the event and use “Kaohsiung” instead of “Taiwan,” even though it applied for the event using “Taiwan” in its name. The name was initially chosen for its significance to the Taiwanese LGBTQ community, as
RSS