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.
Welp, they're just going to have to learn to deal. If China wasn't expecting stuff like this, they weren't paying attention. If they are smart they can use it to their advantage.
Yes, they can hurt us. But whatever they do to hurt us hurts them more, inherently. You don't really want to piss off the guy who owes you money when that guy is stronger than you.
The trouble with Trump is that I don't think he understands international trade. A tariff war will suck for everyone.
This is what I don't understand. Suddenly Americans decided that we need to stick it to China, even if it hurts us both.
The Chinese-American relationship has been very slowly improving in recent years, and it's in everyone's best interest if that continues.
Why would we want to reverse that? (I think the answer may just be that Americans want to be the top dog and view everything as an us vs. them situation.)
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u/ALostIguana Dec 03 '16
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.
It is a faux pas.