'One China principle' not negotiable, China tells Trump

The principle holds that Taiwan is part of China, Communist govt is China's sole legitimate govt

Responding to remarks by Donald Trump, China's Foreign Ministry today said the country's "one-China principle" regarding Taiwan is not negotiable and any attempt to reconsider the issue would be self-defeating.

Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that anyone attempting to use Taiwan's status in a negotiation would be "smashing their feet by lifting a rock."

"Not everything in the world can be bargained or traded off," Hua told reporters at a daily briefing.

"Whoever attempts to harm the one-China principle out of any motive or uses the principle as a bargaining chip will definitely be facing broad and strong opposition from the Chinese government and people, as well as the international community," Hua said.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday that "everything is under negotiation, including 'one China.'" It was the latest sign that Trump could shake up the US-China relationship, particularly regarding Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

The one-China principle holds that Taiwan is part of China and the Communist government in Beijing is China's sole legitimate government.

The US acknowledged that stance when it formalized diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979, but continues to maintain robust unofficial ties with Taiwan. Washington also provides weaponry to the self-governing island democracy to help it guard against China's threat to use force to end their division dating from a civil war in 1949.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend that status quo since winning the November election.

Also today, the Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times published an editorial blasting Trump's strategy and saying China would have a strong response to any reconsideration of Washington's long-standing "one-China policy."

"In the past, Trump infuriated us, but now we find him risible," said the tabloid, which is published by the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's newspaper. "With a skyrocketing ascent in his political life, he has been stunningly confident in his ostensible knowledge of the job, though he speaks like a rookie."

The English-language China Daily ran an editorial Monday accusing Trump of "playing with fire."

"If Trump is determined to use this gambit on taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves," the newspaper said.

China was already angered by Trump's December 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan's leader in nearly four decades. Beijing considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.