Trump Just Promised to Respect the ‘One China’ Policy: Here’s What That Means

February 10, 2017   |   James Holbrooks

(ANTIMEDIA) Washington D.C. — After months of tough talk on the campaign trail on how to handle China — and after weeks of even tougher talk from some in his administration since being elected — President Donald Trump, according to official statements, has agreed to change course and abide by the ‘One China’ policy.

“President Donald J. Trump and President Xi of China had a lengthy telephone conversation on Thursday evening. The two leaders discussed numerous topics and President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor [their] ‘one China’ policy,” a White House statement said.

Describing the phone call as a “very cordial,” one in which the two leaders “extended best wishes to the people of each other’s country,” the statement says that going forward, “the United States and China will engage in discussions and negotiations on various issues of mutual interest.”

In a statement published by China’s Foreign Ministry, President Xi appeared appreciative of Trump’s acceptance of the ‘One China’ doctrine:

“I believe that the United States are China are cooperative partners, and through joint efforts we can push bilateral relations to historic new high.”

Suggesting there’s no reason both nations can’t grow at the same time, Xi added, “The development of China and the United States absolutely can complement each other and advance together. Both sides absolutely can become very good cooperative partners.”

Trump campaigned on nationalistic rhetoric rooted in an “America First” ideology that advocated economic protectionism. This stood in stark contrast to the ‘One China’ policy the Asian superpower requires other countries to recognize if they wish to engage it in trade and commerce.

Since entering the White House, comments made by Trump and certain members of his administration — such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who suggested the U.S. should block China’s access to artificial islands in the South China Sea — have had world leaders and analysts worrying about a possible trade war, a global currency crisis, and the potential for a military conflict between the two superpowers.

Now, with Trump seemingly succumbing to the will of the Chinese leader, many analysts are saying the new U.S. president has lost serious face.

James Zimmerman, former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Washington Post that Trump never should’ve raised the ‘One China’ issue in the first place.

“There is certainly a way of negotiating with the Chinese, but threats concerning fundamental, core interests are counterproductive from the get-go,” he said. “The end result is that Trump just confirmed to the world that he is a paper tiger, a zhilaohu — someone that seems threatening but is wholly ineffectual and unable to stomach a challenge.”

The New York Times, noting in its article title that Trump just gave China an upper-hand, opened the piece by suggesting the new U.S. president has “handed China a victory and sullied his reputation with its leader.”

Speaking with the Times, Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing and advisor to China’s State Council, would seem to agree with this assessment.

“This will be interpreted in China as a great success,” he said, “achieved by Xi’s approach of dealing with him.”

Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University, concurs.

“The Chinese will see him as weak,” he told the Times. “He has reinforced the impression in Beijing that Trump is not serious about managing the U.S.-China relationship.”

Whatever the reputational fallout for President Trump, there’s no question the Chinese are feeling much more comfortable about future dealings between the two nations.

Stating that previous comments from the Trump administration had U.S.-China relations “tumbling and collapsing,” Ni Feng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Studies, suggested to the Times that there could much clearer skies ahead:

“Now we can say that Sino-U.S. relations can proceed.”

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Japan Pledges Patrol Boats to Vietnam As Dispute With China Grows

January 16, 2017   |   James Holbrooks

(ANTIMEDIA) U.S. ally Japan pledged six new patrol boats to Vietnam on Monday, Reuters reports, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits the country during a diplomatic trip to several nations in the region.

“We will strongly support Vietnam’s enhancing its maritime law enforcement capability,” Prime Minister Abe said while announcing the pledge.

The potential problem lies in the fact that Vietnam has been one of the few nations in the region to display a willingness to oppose China — particularly on the issue of the South China Sea, of which the Southeast Asian superpower and incoming President Trump are on opposite sides.

A point highlighted by Reuters:

“Abe’s stop in Vietnam completes a tour through an arc of a region where Japan stakes a leadership claim in the face of China’s growing dominance and uncertainty over what policy change Donald Trump will bring as U.S. president.”

Last week, while in Manila, Prime Minister Abe pledged nearly $9 billion toward infrastructure development in the Philippines — a nation that appears, on the surface, to be wholeheartedly embracing the one-China policy.

Speaking to President Duterte at his home, Abe said Japan “will create business opportunities through Official Development Assistance and private sector investments which, together, will be in the order of one trillion yen ($8.7 billion) over the next five years.”

On the current tensions over disputed waters, Abe asserted, “[T]he issue of the South China Sea is directly linked to regional peace and stability and is a concern of the entire international community.”

As Reuters once again noted Monday, “China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year.” This is what Abe is referring to when he says the dispute is of international concern.

This is also what makes Abe’s pledge of patrol boats to Vietnam so interesting. Only days ago, Vietnam vowed to work with China peacefully on the territorial disputes over the South China Sea, marking a change in tone in negotiations.

Given the facts — and the geopolitical environment they originate from — one might conclude that U.S. ally Japan is trying to win favor, via pledges of financial investment, with nations facing a decision to turn from the West and succumb to a one-China authority.

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China Just Sent the Most Chilling Message yet over US-Taiwan Relations

January 9, 2017   |   James Holbrooks

(ANTIMEDIA) Beijing — On Sunday, directly on the heels of Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing wen’s controversial meeting with U.S. lawmakers in Houston, a state-run Chinese tabloid ran an editorial warning that China would “take revenge” if the U.S. abandoned its one-China policy.

“Trump is yet to be inaugurated, and there is no need for Beijing to sacrifice bilateral ties for the sake of Taiwan,” writes the Global Times. “But in case he tears up the one-China policy after taking office, the mainland is prepared.”

The editorial goes on to state that “Beijing would rather break ties with the US if necessary” and that continuing collaboration between U.S. and Taiwanese officials will “ruin Sino-US relations and destabilize the entire Asia-Pacific region.”

Later in the piece, however, the Times discards pretense and assumes a more threatening tone:

“If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining.”

The opinion of the Global Times, as Reuters points out, does not necessarily equate to the official stance of the Chinese government. It is, however, a state-controlled outlet, and the editorial undeniably reflects the mounting tension between China and the U.S. over the issue of Taiwan.

China views the nation of Taiwan — whose foundation was laid in 1949, when the official Chinese government was forced to flee to the island to escape the Communists — as an official Chinese province. This is the root of the one-China policy, which the U.S. has long adhered to.

This all began to change when incoming President Trump broke protocol, as highlighted by a Washington Post piece on Monday.

“Tensions regarding U.S.-Chinese-Taiwanese relations have been high since early December,” the Post writes, “when President-elect Donald Trump accepted a phone call from Tsai, breaking with nearly four decades of protocol in speaking directly with the Taiwanese leader.”

The situation intensified during the weeks that followed, most notably due to the Taiwanese president’s announcement that she would stop over in Houston to meet with Texas lawmakers on her way to Central America. This prompted the Chinese General Consul of Houston to send a letter to one of those lawmakers, Senator Ted Cruz, asking him not to meet with Tsai.

The senator ignored that request, however, and he and Governor Greg Abbott met with Tsai on Sunday. Within hours, the Global Times editorial warning the U.S. against taking actions counter to the “obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations” had been published.

In a statement, however, Senator Cruz made it clear the United States will not be told with whom it can and cannot meet.

“The People’s Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves,” the statement reads. “This is about the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend. The Chinese do not give us veto power over those with whom we meet. We will continue to meet with anyone, including the Taiwanese, as we see fit.”

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China Seizes Unmanned, Underwater US Navy Vehicle Off South China Sea

The escalating, so far mostly verbal conflict with China may have just heated up following a Reuters reports that China has seized an unmanned, underwater US navy vehicle inside off international waters in the South China Sea, and that the US has issued a formal statement demanding the return of the vehicle.

According to CNN, which has a slightly different take on events, a US oceanographic vessel Thursday had its underwater drone stolen by a Chinese warship literally right in front of the eyes of the American crew.

In the latest encounter in international waters in the South China Sea region, the USNS Bowditch was sailing about 100 miles off the port at Subic Bay when the incident occurred, according to the official.

The Bowditch (T-AGS 62) is a Pathfinder class oceanographic survey ship, a third ship in the class. The USNS Bowditch is a part of a 29 ship Special Mission Ship program and operates in the South China Sea. She is named after Nathaniel Bowditch. Bowditch was engaged in surveying at Tacloban shortly after typhoon Haiyan in advance of the Navy"s Operation Damayan in an area known for its shifting hazards to navigation using its multi-beam contour mapping system.

Bowditch had stopped in the water to pick up two underwater drones. At that point a Chinese naval ship that had been shadowing the Bowditch put a small boat into the water. That small boat came up alongside and the Chinese crew took one of the drones.

The US got no answer from the Chinese on the radio when it said the drone was American property, the official said cited by CNN. More details:

As they turned away, the Chinese did come up on the radio and indicated they were returning to their own operations.

US oceanographic research vessels are often followed in the water under the assumption they are spying. In this case, however, the drone was simply measuring ocean conditions, the official said.
The Pentagon has not officially commented on the incident.

Although it"s unclear what the motivation was for the Chinese, the seizing of the drone comes on the heels of other provocative incidents that have happened since President-elect Donald Trump received a congratulatory call with Taiwan"s President, a violation of the US"s agreement with China"s "One China policy". China publicly voiced their disapproval of that incident and contacted the White House at the time.

This "seizure" takes place one day after China"s influential state-run tabloid, the Global Times, called for a plan to take Taiwan by force and make swift preparations for a military incursion. The article urged China to rebalance its stance towards Taiwan to "make the use of force as a main option" and carefully prepare for possible moves toward independence.

It also follows a series of warnings to the Trump administration by Chinese diplomats, in which they cautioned that China will not allow the "One China" policy to be used as a bargaining chip, something Trump hinted he was willing to do in a Fox News interview last Sunday.