A former diplomat to the US and Senior Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies Yang Xiyu has warned that Trump’s attempt to leverage the Taiwan issue as an economic bargaining chip could have disastrous consequences.
“It’s the most important, most sensitive, most explosive issue in China-US relations,” said Mr Yang.
“What’s uncertain is whether Trump will dare to really act on this issue. But what is certain is that Beijing would dare to react. If anyone ... dares to touch Taiwan issue, Beijing dares to anything Beijing can.”
The comments follow speculation that Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen may meet Mr Trump in person during a visit to the US next month.
China reportedly attempted to block the visit after US president elect held an unprecedented phone conversation with the Taiwan leader earlier this month.
Beijing played down the significance of the call, blaming Taiwan for the action.
“I heard the call was coming probably an hour or two before,” Mr Trump told Fox News in a subsequent television interview.
“I understand the One China policy, I don’t know why we have to be bound by the One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.
"We’re being hut very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don’t tax them."
Mr Yang said Mr Trump is attempting to take the two core interests of each country and to play them against each other, but said the strategy was misguided and would backfire.
“He’s saying, ‘the Taiwan issue is one which concerns you the most, and trade is the one I’m concerned about the most, let’s make a deal'."
"But it’s unthinkable for China. Even unthinkable for the United States. An issue related to a sovereign country’s integrity, such an issue cannot be a bargaining chip. If Trump insists on this way of thinking that would be a disaster for China-US relations," he said.
At a press conference last week, outgoing US president Barack Obama warned that Trump would need to think carefully before failing to uphold the one China policy as president.
“The idea of One China is at the heart of their conception of a nation. So if you are going to up-end this understanding you have to have thought through the consequences because the Chinese won’t treat this the way they treat even the South China Sea."
