Breaking: Trump Just Talked to President of Taiwan. U.S. Doesn’t Have Diplomatic Relations With Taiwan. This Is Bad.

China ‘Will See This as a Highly Provocative Action, of Historic Proportions’

Donald Trump continues to make and receive calls from world leaders, many believe on unsecured telephone lines, but the president-elect just caused a major, indeed “historic” diplomatic crisis that may have long-lasting negative effects.

The U.S. Government severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, and technically no president, or president-elect, has spoken with their president since. 

Why?

China.

Taiwan is considered by China to be a part of China, and China considers communication with the head of state of Taiwan to be a “highly provocative” act against the Chinese government, as one expert notes.

The Financial Times’ Demetri Sevastopulo and Geoff Dyer broke the news, reporting that Trump’s phone call “on Friday with Tsai Ying-wen, the president of Taiwan … risks opening up a major diplomatic dispute with China before he has even been inaugurated.”

The reporters note that “the call is likely to infuriate Beijing which regards the island as a renegade province.” 

Here’s how one expert explained the problem to the FT:

“The Chinese leadership will see this as a highly provocative action, of historic proportions,” said Evan Medeiros, former Asia director at the White House national security council. 

“Regardless if it was deliberate or accidental, this phone call will fundamentally change China’s perceptions of Trump’s strategic intentions for the negative. With this kind of move, Trump is setting a foundation of enduring mistrust and strategic competition for US-China relations.”

The U.S State Department is very clear on the matter.

“The 1979 U.S.-P.R.C. Joint Communique switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing,” a U.S. Dept. of State Fact Sheet explains. “In the Joint Communique, the United States recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.”

UPDATE I: 5:21 PM EST –
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, who sits on the Committee on Foreign Relations, says this is “how wars start”:

UPDATE II: 5:33 PM EST –
Trump basically just formally recognized Taiwan, as much as a president-elect can do:

A Trump transition press release sent to NCRM states: “President-elect Trump spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, who offered her congratulations.  During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States.  President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year.”

Congratulating Tsai on becoming president basically means Trump recognizes her position, and thus, that she is a head of state, violating the U.S. agreement with China.

UPDATE III: 6:02 PM EST –
James Fallows is a journalist and recognized expert on China. He was also President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter. He just posted this series of tweets in response to the news:

UPDATE IV: 6:10 PM EST –
First Republican to sound the alarm, Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush’s former Press Secretary:

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license