Who is President Tsai Ing-wen? Donald Trump may have wanted to ask himself that question before he answered a phone call from the President of Taiwan. Trump’s call with Taiwan significe a dramatic potential for change between U.S., China, and Taiwan relations. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognize the government of Taiwan, but rather see it as being a part of “One China” — meaning, China and Taiwan. Trump, of course, went to his preferred means of communications to announce this controversy, tweeting: “The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!” However, by even tweeting “President of Taiwan”, President-elect Trump is recognizing Taiwan’s government as a legitimate one. China’s reaction to this call seems appropriate. While China could take this call as a very realistic prediction to Trump’s lack of support for “One China”, it seems as though they are using this as a warning to Trump and a call-out of Taiwan.
During the primary election as well as the general, Donald Trump was very vocal about his want to fix U.S.-China relations, especially in his accusations of China manipulating currency and taking advantage of American businesses. However, if Trump accepted the call with Taiwan to send a message to China, he will need to explain his stance further. The U.S. needs China for many reasons, but diplomatically, it is imperative for China to support the U.S. in its diplomatic affairs, especially those involving North Korea. The consequences of such careless foreign policy decisions were expressed by Chris Murphy on MSNBC. The question remains for some, was this Trump being unpredictable or was he simply uninformed?
Agora: Watching the World Turn 