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Teddy Ng

Wei Qi

Beijing hit back at US president-elect Donald Trump on the weekend, saying the one-China principle is non-negotiable.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said late on Saturday that the one-China principle was the political foundation for Sino-US ties.“It’s not negotiable. We urge relevant parties in the United States to recognise the high sensitivity of Taiwan issues, and to stick to the promise made by both political parties in the US over the years,” he said.

Lu called on the US to properly handle Taiwan issues to ensure cooperation and the stable development of relations between ­Beijing and Washington.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Trump said that until he saw progress from Beijing on its currency and trade practices, he would not commit to the US agreement with Beijing of not recognising Taiwan diplomatically, a policy known as “one China”.
For Trump, one China, like everything, is negotiable
It is not the first time Trump has challenged the policy – he questioned its validity following a phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen soon after his election. At that time, Beijing warned that there would be no grounds for Sino-US cooperation without the one-China principle.


Zhang Baohui, a security specialist at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, said Trump would not really want to escalate tensions with Beijing, but China did not have much leverage over the incoming US president.
“Trump has been very smart. He is using the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip with China,” Zhang said. “Trump has a relatively simple agenda. He cares only about the domestic economy. His issue is to create jobs. He believes that sorting out the trade ­issues with China can help him to create jobs inside the US.”
Zhang said China might give some trade concessions to the US and invest in US infrastructure.
“It’s more of a bargaining technique at the moment. It doesn’t feel likely Trump would want to escalate the situation,” he said.
Zhao Hai, from Tsinghua University’s National Strategy ­Institute, said Trump would “challenge all sorts of fundamental understandings and principles between China and the US”. “He will pressure China from all perspectives,” Zhao said. “But I don’t think [China] needs to retaliate against what he says or what he tweets. I don’t think his tough tone on China will go anywhere.”
Zhao said the US and China had to cooperate on issues in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which would give Beijing leverage over the US


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Donald Trump

Beijing hits back at Trump: one-China principle is non-negotiable

China's Foreign Ministry has told President-elect Donald Trump that the one-China principle is non-negotiable. Photo: AP

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang (Handout)

Trump cards: how will next US president play his hand against China?

South China Sea, cybersecurity and trade likely to be among key pressure points

(150923) -- SEATTLE, Sept. 23, 2015 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) chats with a Boeing employee aboard a 787 plane which will soon be delivered to China's Xiamen Airlines during his visit to the Boeing Company's commercial airplane factory in Everett of Washington State, the United States, Sept. 23, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Tao) (wf)

Crew members aboard the VOS Raasay recover U.S. and British Royal Navy ocean gliders taking part in the Unmanned Warrior exercise off the northwest coast of Scotland on October 8, 2016. A similar unmanned underwater vehicle was seized by the Chinese Navy in international waters off the coast of the Philippines on December 15, 2016. Courtesy Santiago Carrizosa/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERSATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

FILE - In this July 14, 2016 file photo, a woman walks past a billboard featuring an image of an island in South China Sea on display with Chinese words that read: "South China Sea, our beautiful motherland, we won't let go an inch" in Weifang in east China's Shandong province. A U.S. think tank says recent satellite images appear to show that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

epa05082833 Chinese yuan or renminbi (RMB) notes in Beijing, China, 29 December 2015. China's currency fell to its weakest in more than four and a half years on 29 December 2015. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, dropped 114 basis points to 6.4864 against the US dollar on 29 December, its weakest since June 2011, according to data from the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD). SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

epa04094574 A handout picture provided by the White House on 22 February 2014 shows US President Barack Obama (R) meeting with the Dalai Lama in the Map Room of the White House, in Washington, DC, USA, 21 February 2014. Obama met with the the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism at the White House, brushing off warnings from China that it would cause 'serious damage' to bilateral ties. The meeting with Obama was the first since July 2011, which also took place against protests from Beijing. The 78-year-old exiled Buddhist monk is in the USA on a speaking tour. EPA/PETE SOUZA / THE WHITE HOUSE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - In this May 19, 2014, file photo, press materials are displayed on a table of the Justice Department in Washington, before Attorney General Eric Holder was to speak at a news conference to announce that a U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft, the first-of-its-kind criminal charges against Chinese military officials in an international cyber-espionage case. The United States in July 2014 will urge China to resume discussions on cybersecurity that were suspended abruptly after the U.S. charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into U.S. companies to steal trade secrets, a U.S. official said June 26. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

A man walks past an advertisement of Apple's iPad 2 on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 in Shanghai, China. Proview Electronics said it is now seeking to regain worldwide rights to the iPad name and is suing Apple Inc. for alleged fraud and unfair competition, hoping to have a 2009 sale of the trademark ruled void. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Containers at the port of Lianyungang in east China's Jiangsu province in December. US president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to slap a 45 per cent tariff on imports from China. Photo: Xinhua

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