US-China ties: No need to challenge the status quo on Taiwan

POLITICIANS and pundits have speculated in recent days that US President-elect Donald Trump would reverse the process of deterioration in the Russo-American relationship when he enters office in January.

Less attention has been focused on a more intriguing and worrisome notion - that Mr Trump was also intent on taking a tougher US stand vis-à-vis China in the geo-strategic and geo-economic arenas. In fact, he complained during the election campaign that China was devaluing its currency and exploiting the trade system to beat America in the global markets and in the process destroying its manufacturing sector. He vowed to put more pressure on Beijing, including by imposing huge tariffs on Chinese exports.

Beyond trade, Mr Trump also indicated that he was ready to reassess the diplomatic status quo in the relations between the two Pacific powers. After taking a congratulatory call from the President of Taiwan, he seemed to suggest that he wanted to revisit the current understanding between Beijing and Washington over the political status of Taiwan.