By Kasim Ileri
WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. officials have at least twice spoken with their Chinese counterparts in an attempt to reassure them about U.S.-China relations after President-elect Donald Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan, the White House said Monday.
“The Chinese government and Beijing places an enormous priority on this situation and it's a sensitive matter,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “Some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up”.
Officials, including some from the White House National Security Council, reiterated the long-standing U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan, according to Earnest.
He suggested Trump take briefings from the State Department before any future conversation with foreign leaders.
Earnest avoided characterizing the call Friday between Trump and Taiwanese president as a breach of diplomacy but the move goes against the U.S.'s One China Policy that recognizes Taiwan as part of China, dating to 1972.
Taiwan is officially called “the Republic of China” and held China’s seat at the UN until 1971, when the People’s Republic of China took it over through a resolution.
The most populous country outside the UN, Taiwan continued to claim to represent all of China until a constitutional amendment in 1991.
Since the U.S. recognized the Chinese government in Beijing in 1979, no American president had had any official telephone calls with a Taiwanese leader.
Although Trump claimed on Twitter that the call was a courtesy between the two leaders due to his election victory, media reports have said the conversation was planned ahead of time.
Earnest told reporters that he is yet to understand the reason for the call while what Trump has said in relation to the conversation and what has surfaced are not compatible.
“It's unclear exactly what the strategic effort is, what the aim of the strategic effort is, and it's unclear exactly what potential benefit could be experienced by the United States, China or Taiwan," he said.
Earnest also said it was "unclear what the potential benefit" of Trump's engagement with Taiwan might be for Taiwanese.
The State Department said that the One China Policy has helped build closer relations with China and engage in strong "informal relations" with Taipei for the last 40 years.