While all seems to be dandy now, with Chinese President Xi Jinping graciously accepting a letter from US President Donald Trump, sending him “high praise” and looking forward to building a stronger and more “constructive” relationship with the US, things between Trump and China haven’t always been hunky dory.
Trump spoke to the President of Taiwan, which simply isn’t done
Trump has been harassing Beijing on hot-button issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, getting them all riled up, and then he really took the cake by accepting a call from Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan.
That got China really mad. This was the first time a President or President-elect had spoken to the Taiwanese Government in decades.
The US cut all formal ties with Taiwan in 1979. China doesn’t even acknowledge Taiwan’s right to be a country; they see Taiwan as the prodigal son, and if they don’t come back to the mainland on their own, they might need to use military action to bring them back. That’s why the US has tended to stay away from Taiwan, but then again, the US has tended to stay away from a lot of things Trump is getting involved with.
Trump may be planning to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip on China, but that would be very risky business indeed.
