Trump takes on China in tweets

US president-to-be Trump complained about Chinese currency manipulation, barriers to trade & military action in the South China Sea on social media.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE & CHINA

Trump takes on China in tweets

5/12/2016
Bloomberg News agency

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump took on the Chinese government via social media on Sunday, rejecting criticism of his decision to take a phone call from Taiwan’s president at the risk of triggering a backlash from Beijing.

The US president-elect told his 16.6 million Twitter followers that he wouldn’t be told by China who he should or shouldn’t talk to.

Trump also reiterated some of the grievances about China used in his winning presidential campaign.

TRUMP'S CHINA CRITICISMS

Trump has threatened to brand China a currency manipulator and slap 45% tariffs on the China’s exports.

Mr Trump tweeted: "Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn’t tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don’t think so!"

CHINA'S CURRENCY FALLS

The Chinese currency, the yuan, reacted to Trump's remarks by declining for the first time in three days.

The offshore yuan trading in Hong Kong took its biggest decline since Mr Trump’s surprise presidential election victory to 1.2%, falling 0.12% to 6.8785 per dollar.

The yuan rose 0.1% in Shanghai, where moves during trading are limited to 2% on either side of a daily central bank reference rate. 

TRUMP'S CALL TO TAIWAN

Over the weekend, China complained to the US after Mr Trump flouted almost four decades of diplomatic protocol by directly speaking with the leader of Taiwan, which China considers a rogue province.

China does not dictate who the president of the United States speaks to, former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures programme.

China urged US authorities to adhere to the so-called one-China principle.

The one-China principle is that there can only be one state called China even though the People's Republic of China (PRC, Mainland China) and Taiwan both claim to be that one state.

This means that countries who want diplomatic relations with Mainland China must end formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan (see here).

Taiwan-related issues are the most important and sensitive part of China-US relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.

He added that the "One-China" principle is the basis for any diplomatic relations.

HISTORY OF US-TAIWAN RELATIONS

The US broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and officially recognised the Communist Mainland China government in 1979.

Still, the US has maintained a close relationship with democratically run Taiwan and is legally required to provide military support and protection to the country.

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