Beijing to Break Ties with US if Trump Ditches One-China Policy

Local Editor

Should Donald Trump break the "one-China" policy after taking office, the Chinese people will call on the government to "take revenge," Beijing's unofficial mouthpiece warned shortly after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen made a stopover in Houston.

"Trump is yet to be inaugurated, and there is no need for Beijing to sacrifice bilateral ties for the sake of Taiwan. But in case he tears up the one-China policy after taking office, the mainland is fully prepared," the Communist party-owned Chinese newspaper Global Times said in an editorial on Sunday.

"Beijing would rather break ties with the US if necessary. We would like to see whether US voters will support their president to ruin Sino-US relations and destabilize the entire Asia-Pacific region," it added.

"If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining," the Global Times concluded.

On Sunday, Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, whom China does not recognize as legitimate, met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Senator Ted Cruz during her stopover in Houston en route to Central America.

Cruz said that shortly before the meeting the Houston congressional delegation had received a letter from the Chinese consulate asking them not to meet with President Tsai.

"Sticking to [the one China] principle is not a capricious request by China upon US presidents, but an obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific," the Global Times editorial said on Sunday.

The question of Taiwanese independence is one of China's most touchy policy issues. China considers the small island 80 kilometers off its southeastern coast to be a renegade province, and any official contact between foreign governments and Taiwan's leaders immediately comes under fire from Beijing.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team