What Trump Reaffirming the ‘One China’ Policy Means - The Epoch Times

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What Trump Reaffirming the ‘One China’ Policy Means
Analysts say that Trump has created room for future negotiations, while Xi can now focus on pressing domestic issues
By Larry Ong, Epoch Times   |

February 10, 2017 AT 6:18 PM

Last Updated: February 10, 2017 6:21 pm

President Donald Trump attends a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The bilateral relationship between the United States and China, the first and second largest economies, is often called the most important in the world. Thus, many held their breath when, before his inauguration, President Donald Trump appeared to adopt a combative stance towards the Chinese regime.

Trump first broke long-standing diplomatic protocol by receiving a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. He later said that the sensitive “One China” policy was negotiable in the event of a trade war between the United States and China.

Several China hawks—including the economist Peter Navarro and the financier Wilbur Ross—were appointed to key economic and trade positions. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s Secretary of State, told the Senate that the U.S. need to “send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”

But when Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke in their first telephone call on Feb. 9, the U.S. president seemed to steer clear of controversy and confrontation.

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