China says Trump’s Taiwan comments cause ‘serious concern’
BEIJING — China’s foreign minister warned that any moves to damage Beijing’s core interests would be self-detrimental after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he could use the way in which America deals with Taiwan as a bargaining chip.
Wang Yi’s comments late Monday came a day after Trump said in a television interview that he didn’t feel “bound by a one-China policy.” Washington, however, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s commitment to the policy that means it maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory.
Since recognizing the People’s Republic of China in 1979, the U.S. has adhered to the one-China policy, recognizing Beijing as the capital of China and maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. American law, however, requires the U.S. to ensure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to treat all threats to the island as matters of serious concern.
China split from Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the island as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.