[AP/Yonhap News Photo]
The US administration of President Barack Obama stands by its commitment to the "one-China" policy, the White House said after President-elect Donald Trump challenged the policy with a phone call with Taiwan's president.
"I can confirm that US officials, including senior officials at the National Security Council, have been in touch with their Chinese counterparts to reiterate our country's continued commitment to a one-China policy," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a briefing.
"This is a policy that's been in place for nearly 40 years and it has been focused on promoting and preserving peace and stability in the strait. The adherence to and commitment to this policy has advanced the ability of the United States to make progress in our relationship with China and of course has benefited the people of Taiwan," he said.
Trump spoke by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, breaking the decades-long diplomatic tradition that the U.S. has kept under its "One China" policy since severing ties with Taiwan and normalizing relations with Beijing.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland and rails against any support for Taiwan's independence or the notion that the island is not part of the country. Despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, the US has maintained friendly relations with Taiwan.
"The Chinese government and Beijing places an enormous priority on this situation and it's a sensitive matter. And some of the progress that we have made in our relationship with China could be undermined by this issue flaring up," Earnest said.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence has downplayed the call as nothing more than a courtesy call, but the Washington Post reported earlier Monday that it was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past. It cited unidentified "people involved in the planning."
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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