China: Taiwan-Trump call a ‘petty trick’
December 3, 2016, 10:00 am

Xi called Kissinger China’s “old friend” when the two met in Beijing on Friday [Xinhua]

“This is just the Taiwan side engaging in a petty action, and cannot change the ‘one China’ structure already formed by the international community,” Wang said at an academic forum in Beijing, state media reported.

But on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said it had filed its protest at the call with the “relevant US side”.

Trump had Tweeted on Friday that Tsai had called to congratulate him on his US election win. He in turn congratulated Tsai who recently became president.

US media had speculated that Trump’s phone conversation, unprecedented since 1979 when Washington implemented the One China policy in a bid to improve ties with Beijing, would anger the Chinese.

But Chinese leaders appear to have largely side-stepped what could have been a controversial start to Trump’s presidency.

“I believe that it won’t change the longstanding ‘one China’ policy of the United States government,” he added.

A few hours after the the Trump-Tsai phone exchange, the White House reaffirmed Washington’s committment to the existing policy. “There is no change to our longstanding policy on cross-Strait issues,” National Security spokeswoman Emily Horne told AFP.

He pointed to the phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping immediately after the US presidential election, and said it sent “a very positive signal about the future development of Sino-U.S. relations”.

For his part, Xi believes that common goals between China and the US “far outweigh” differences they may have.

During his meeting with veteran diplomat former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Friday, Xi said that Beijing is monitoring the transition from the Obama to Trump administration and added he hoped ties between the two countries will “move ahead in a sustainable and stable manner”.

Kissinger is revered in China for his role in helping late President Richard Nixon visit Bejing in a historic trip in 1972.

“Dr Kissinger, your visit is very timely, and we look forward to hearing your views on China-US relations going forward,” Xi said.

Kissinger had met with Trump in New York to discuss Asia just two weeks ago.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies