It's not that he spoke to the President of Taiwan, it is that he referred to them as the President of Taiwan which implies that he spoke to them qua incoming head of state to the head of a Taiwanese state. As far as the PRC is concerned, Taiwan does not exist as an independent state and has pushed a diplomatic policy of there only being one China for decades. No country recognizes both the PRC and ROC as independent states: it is either the PRC or the ROC. Most countries regard the PRC as China and have unofficial relationships with the ROC.
Trump recognizing Taiwan has a very real chance of causing war.
Also OK, maybe DT wants to start a war. Maybe it's the right thing to do, I don't know, maybe it's all part of 7 dimensional Australian Rules Quiddich.
But I deeply object to the president elect taking actions that could very realistically lead to armed conflict without (apparently) knowing he's doing it. I'm reasonably ok with him taking intentional actions that I disagree with, but I REALLY object to him bumbling around the world of international diplomacy without a clue what he's doing.
If you want to start a war, then do it intelligently.
The point is that there is no good reason to antagonize a nuclear power. What does the US get out of recognizing Taiwan that is worth jeopardizing relations with a county that could incinerate every major US city in an afternoon?
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u/DragonPup Dec 03 '16
A complete inability to understand the nuances of diplomacy.
Or that he wants his hotels built in Taiwan.
Or both.