State-run Chinese tabloid Global Times has warned US President-elect Donald Trump that China would take “take revenge” if he reneged on the One China policy. only hours after Taiwan’s President made a controversial stopover in Houston.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met senior US Republican lawmakers during her stopover in Houston on Sunday en route to Central America, where she will visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Beijing had asked Washington not to allow Tsai to enter the United States or hold any formal government meetings under the One China policy.
Taiwan President’s US Visit
Tsai met Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
“Sticking to (the One China) principle is not a capricious request by China upon US Presidents, but an obligation of US Presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific,” said the Global Times editorial on Sunday.
The influential tabloid is published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily.
Trump triggered protests from Beijing last month by accepting a congratulatory telephone call from Tsai and questioning Washington’s commitment to China’s position that Taiwan is part of One China.
“No Room For Bargaining”
“If Trump reneges on the One China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining,” said the the Global Times editor.
Trump has said that he will not meet with any foreign leaders before he takes office, but left open the possibility of meeting Tsai after his inauguration on 20 January.
Cruz said some members of Congress had received a letter from the Chinese consulate asking them not to meet with Tsai during her stopovers.
The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves. This is not about the PRC. This is about the US relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend.Texas Senator Ted Cruz
Tsai Discusses Ties With US
Cruz said he and Tsai discussed upgrading bilateral relations and furthering economic cooperation between their countries, including increased access to Taiwanese markets that will benefit Texas ranchers, farmers and small businesses.
Tsai’s office has stayed low key about her US meetings, saying on Monday only that Tsai talked with friends during her private and unofficial stopover. Tsai will stopover in San Francisco on 13 January, on her way back to Taiwan.
In a dinner speech Saturday to hundreds of overseas Taiwanese, Tsai said that the United States holds a “special place in the hearts of the people of Taiwan” and that the self-ruled island via bilateral exchanges has provided more than 3,20,000 jobs directly and indirectly to the American people, according to a statement from her office on Monday.
Tsai said Taiwan looks to create more US jobs through deeper investment, trade and procurement.
China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a renegade province, ineligible for state-to-state relations.
The Global Times, whose stance does not equate with government policy, also targeted Tsai in the editorial, saying that the mainland would likely impose further diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, warning that “Tsai needs to face the consequences for every provocative step she takes”.
“It should also impose military pressure on Taiwan and push it to the edge of being reunified by force, so as to effectively affect the approval rating of the Tsai administration.”
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