ABC News: President Donald Trump has confirmed his commitment to honor the U.S.’s long-standing “one China” policy, according to a White House readout of the president’s phone call Thursday night with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
“The two leaders discussed numerous topics and President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor our “one China” policy, read the readout.
Ever since December, when then-president-elect Trump took a congratulatory call from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, China-U.S. relations have been strained, since the U.S. has not had diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1979. China lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. after Trump accepted the call. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.
And relations between the two global powerhouses continued to come into question after Trump suggested to The Wall Street Journal in January, about a week before his inauguration, that the “one China” policy could be modified. “Everything is under negotiation including “one China”, Trump told the newspaper at the time.
As for Thursday’s phone call, the readout described it as “extremely cordial”, adding, “both leaders extended best wishes to the people of each other’s countries.”
Looking toward the future, the readout said, “Representatives of the United States and China will engage in discussions and negotiations on various issues of mutual interest.”
It added, “They also extended invitations to meet in their respective countries. President Trump and President Xi look forward to further talks with very successful outcomes.”
