President Obama Says Donald Trump Should Deal Cautiously With Taiwan, China
President warns successor to think through the consequences of his actions
President Obama said it's good for a new president to look at foreign policy with ‘fresh eyes’ but cautioned President-elect Donald Trump to be aware of the consequences before upending policy on China and Taiwan. Photo: Getty
By
CAROL E. LEEUpdated Dec. 16, 2016 5:19 p.m. ET
53 COMMENTSWASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said President-elect Donald Trump’s protocol-breaking phone call with Taiwan’s leader could elicit a significant response from China, given the issue’s importance to Beijing.
Mr. Trump drew criticism from China after
he accepted a congratulatory phone call from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. The call caught the White House by surprise and broke with the longstanding “One China” policy that blocks formal U.S. diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be a territory, not a sovereign nation.
“If you’re going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what the consequences are because the Chinese won’t treat that like they treat some issues,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference Friday.
Mr. Obama said overall it is good that “all of our foreign policy should be subject to fresh eyes” but warned that the U.S. relationship with China is one that should be approached carefully and methodically.
THE TRUMP TRANSITION
“There’s probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance, and where there’s also the potential if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full conflict mode that everybody’s worse off,” Mr. Obama said.
美國總統歐巴馬17日在記者會表示，總統當選人川普審視「一個中國政策」合情合理，但他也提醒川普改變現狀將使美國與北京關係產生重大後果。
歐巴馬說：「對中國來說，『一個中國』是中國身為一個國家的中心概念，如果你要顛覆這種理解，你必須仔細想清楚後果可能是什麼。」
12月初，川普接起了蔡英文的致賀電話。這是美國總統或總統勝選人與台灣領導人，自1979年台美斷交以來第一次通話（或者說是公開通話）。
中國自此以來，屢屢提出外交抗議或交涉。
歐巴馬:「中國已經承認台灣擁有自己的實體，這個現狀固然無法讓所有涉事者全然滿意，卻維持了和平，並讓台灣得以成為相當成功的經濟體，台灣人也擁有高度自決權。」
歐巴馬指出，「在運作數十年來的政策之下，中國已經承認台灣擁有自己的實體（entity），而此實體依照自己的方法辦事，而台灣也接受這一點，在擁有某種程度的自治權之下，台灣不會爆衝並宣佈獨立」。
歐巴馬說，「這個現狀，儘管無法讓所有涉事者全然滿意，卻維持了和平，並讓台灣得以成為相當成功的經濟體，台灣人也享有高度的自決權利。」
歐巴馬說，他已經建議川普，外交政策必須用在有系統、仔細酌量和在有計劃之下執行。
歐巴馬也提到美中關係或許是舉世最重要的雙邊關係，但也因為重要，一旦這份關係崩潰或陷入全面衝突，就會讓全世界陷入更糟糕的處境。
歐巴馬說，如果美國對台政策真的有所改變，北京當局不會等閒視之。
他說，中國不會用看待其他問題一樣，看待美台關係或「一中政策」的改變。南海爭議已經引發掀起波瀾，而顛覆「一中政策」將讓中國更加激動。
「因為這攸關他們自我認知的核心，而他們對此反應激烈。但這也不代表你必須依附過去一切的行事方式。」，歐巴馬說。
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