Beijing tells Washington to stand by “One China Principle”

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following the telephone conversation between President Tsai Ing-wen and United States President-elect Donald Trump, China said Saturday it had contacted the relevant authorities and asked the U.S. to stand by its “One China” policy in order not to interfere with relations between Washington and Beijing.

The 10-minute phone conversation between Tsai and Trump Friday night Taiwan time was unprecedented since Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the country had already expressed its “solemn representations” with the relevant side in the U.S., though he did not specify who that was. Usually, it would mean the State Department, but since Trump is not taking office until next month, it was not known whether China had contacted his staff.

Geng also reiterated China’s familiar stance that there was only one China, and that Taiwan was an inalienable part of it. The internationally community recognized that the People’s Republic of China was the only legal representative of China, he added.    [FULL  STORY]