US urged to adhere to policy of one China

Beijing is urging Washington to abide by the one-China principle and carefully handle Taiwan-related issues when president-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, a spokesman on Taiwan affairs said on Wednesday.

Taiwan is one of the most important issues in Sino-US relations, said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

“We hope the new government can abide by the one-China policy and the principle of the Three Joint Communiques and carefully deal with Taiwan issues,” Ma said at a regular news conference.

In the three communiques, which China and the US signed in 1972, 1979 and 1982, the two countries agreed to adhere to the one-China policy and oppose “Taiwan independence”.

Wang Shushen, an associate researcher at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in a blog on Nov 12 that, regardless of who won the US election, “there won’t be a big difference in the US’s Taiwan policy”.

Yang Xiyu, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said Taiwan and cross-Straits relations are unlikely to be among Trump’s priorities when he takes office.

“Trump is facing piled-up international and domestic problems. Taiwan and cross-Straits relations are low on his list of priorities,” Yang said.

However, Taiwan’s economists are concerned about a possible drop in Taiwan’s economy during a Trump administration.

The Taiwan newspaper China Post reported that former Taiwan finance minister Chang Sheng-ford said that the US is the second-largest market for Taiwan exports, only behind the-Chinese mainland.

Chang said that Taiwan is home to many joint enterprises that would be at risk after Trump takes office.

“If Trump goes with his protectionist leanings, one cannot rule out the possibility that he will demand all Apple suppliers to set up factories in the US,” the paper quoted Chang as saying.