Trump questions 'one China policy' without Beijing concessions

Abe, Xi, Trump should not be provoking each other and potentially caused a major war in Asia. Better concentrate on common need to fight global international terrorism.

I just hope he is doing this on purpose. But I strongly suspect he is not. He probably thought the Republic of China is what China is officially called.

I'm just not sure why the issue of Taiwan suddenly came onto Trump's radar and why he is proactively attacking China over it. Did he plan on making this the lead issue? Because he's never really talked about it before that I know of and all of these things are coming out after he made the call.

But it might be a good time to sell that Boeing stock short.

Trump is doing what he does in business - trying to remove any confidence the other side has by making their position seem less stable than it is. By questioning the US policy of one China, he is trying to make the Chinese feel that they have less support for their one China policy than they previously had. In Trump's mind, this will make them more likely to concede to use demands, if he uses a return to the US position of one China as a carrot.

It could actually work - he's trying to create a carrot out of nothing. Right now, China has the US on board with one China, without having to do anything for it. Trump is trying to make them do something for it.

But, it could also backfire - China is as unpredictable as Trump is, and they hold a lot of influence in the world these days, as well as a lot of leverage over the US.

Also, Taiwan should be careful about being used as a bargaining chip by the US and China. If they were smart, they'd reject any advances from Trump's presidency, at best, they're going to trade masters. At worst, they're going to suffer the wrath of China after Trump abandons the pro-Taiwan position. Taiwan would be better off maintaining their current status quo, which while not being what they want in the long term, is better than the poison apple Trump is offering.

You really have to wonder what trauma Trump suffered as a boy to have such an inferiority complex towards and fear of China.

You really have to wonder what trauma Trump suffered as a boy to have such an inferiority complex towards and fear of China.

surely that's

You really have to wonder what trauma Trump suffered as a boy to have such an inferiority complex towards and fear of everything?

Good luck on making China cooperate with you about trade, North Korea, and the South China Sea by using one of the most politically, and probably historically and culturally, sensitive issues in China: Taiwan. This is like to the ends of the world for them (which is frightening because this could be literal).

Right now, China has the US on board with one China, without having to do anything for it.

In China's mind, the fact they became anti-Soviet Union and a source for cheap labor decades ago, and normalizing their relationship with the US justifies the current status quo. Quite frankly, America should be thinking the same too.

as well as a lot of leverage over the US.

.....or that could the reason why China wouldn't have "to do anything for it".

If they were smart, they'd reject any advances from Trump's presidency, at best, they're going to trade masters. At worst, they're going to suffer the wrath of China after Trump abandons the pro-Taiwan position.

That means Tsai isn't so smart then, as she was the one who reached out to Trump. She might have scored some political points in front of her crowd, but it won't mean much if there was an economic war or an actual war that broke out. Taiwan is indeed far more important to China than it is to America, and significantly geographically closer too. I think in the end, the biggest loser of all of this will be Taiwan actually.

The man who said he wants to be isolationist and not get involved in other people's disputes just wedged himself in the China/Taiwan dispute for no reason other than because he wants to scam some negotiating leverage out of the 2nd largest economy on the planet. He has all the long-term planning ability of a goldfish.

American brands fretting over their Chinese competitors' ability to race up the value chain are going to just love their new president.

The Establishment loves the status quo. The gullible naves support it.

SenseNotSoCommonDEC. 12, 2016 - 01:59PM JST American brands fretting over their Chinese competitors' ability to race up the value chain are going to just love their new president.

Alix HooperDEC. 12, 2016 - 02:33PM JST The Establishment loves the status quo. The gullible naves support it.

I wonder: ion you guys' rush to invent nefarious motivations for everyone who disagrees with you, A) has it not occurred to you that the last few decades of American adventurism in other counties for vague ideological reasons and without sufficient planning caused the deaths of untold thousands of innocents and created political instability that led to groups like ISIS today, or B) did it occur to you but you just don't care?