Trump Honors One China Policy, Tsai Ying-wen Must Realistically Cope With It

  Trump Honors One China Policy, Tsai Ying-wen Must Realistically Cope With It

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

February 10, 2017

 Translation of an Except

US President Trump has finally broken the stalemate. On February 8, he sent a letter to Mainland China’s President Xi Jinping, who subsequently called Trump by phone on the 9th. In this exchange of letter and phone call, both sides have exhibited goodwill. Trump pledged to honor the "one China" policy of the United States, while Xi Jinping stated through a spokesman of the Foreign Ministry that "cooperation is the only correct option between China and the United States." The fact that the two leaders Xi and Trump-- while Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was about to visit the United States for the "Trump-Abe Summit"-- mutually exhibited goodwill underscored Trump’s artful approach for pragmatic deals, and Xi Jinping also showed his strategic composure and stamina using placidity to meet movements.

Trump once intended to upturn Sino-American relations, utilizing the “Trump-Tsai phone call" to apply pressure on the Mainland, and openly stated that it was possible to change the "one China" policy. The Mainland, on the other hand, responded by saying that “the one China principle is not negotiable,” and that it hoped the United States would properly handle the Taiwan issue.

In fact, the Mainland will not use the means of military force to realize reunification. The spokesman of the Mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office pointed out that currently the situation of  cross-Strait relations was complex and serious, saying that "we will insist in using legal approaches and means to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," that “the Mainland deeply believes that time is on China’s side” and it was willing, with maximum patience, to implement fully “both sides of the Strait are one family in order to win the people’s hearts in Taiwan.”

As far as the United States is concerned, without the underpinnings of the one China policy, cross-Strait relations would be difficult to manage. In order to shape a new situation of the peaceful and stable development in the Taiwan Strait, we are glad to see the new Trump administration honors the one-China policy and begins to adapt to the new picture of "China's rise,” forsaking the old Cold War thinking of confrontation and erecting a new structure for trade and security with the major powers in East Asian, and promoting a win-win development for both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

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