WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama warned his successor Donald Trump on Friday against provoking a ‘’very significant’’ response from China by reaching out to Taiwan.
Trump has broken with four decades of US diplomacy by suggesting Washington’s “One China’’ stance may be reviewed and by accepting a call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
Beijing regards self-governing Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory and has already expressed anger at Trump’s move.
Tension between the world’s two greatest powers is running high, as was underlined Thursday when Chinese sailors seized an unmanned US naval probe in the South China Sea.
Obama, who leaves office on January 20 to make way for Trump, has taken a cautious stance with the Asian giant and urged the president-elect to proceed with care.
‘’The idea of One China is at the heart of their conception as a nation,’’ he told reporters at an end of year news conference at the White House.