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Seattle Shakur
Professor Weinbauer
World Regional Geography
14 December 2016
China, Taiwan, and Donald Trump
According to an article from the BBC, Trump received a phone call from Taiwanese
president, Tsai Ing-wen, congratulating him on his election victory. China noted the report of this
phone call from Taiwan to Trump and expressed concern about it. Taiwan is an island that concerns
China's sovereignty and territorial integrity (BBC News). By Trump speaking to Taiwan, he could
potentially damage U.S.- China relations, especially by treating Taiwan as an independent nation.
As mentioned in the article, President-elect Donald Trump stated that he does not want to be bound
by the 'One China' policy that is currently in place (BBC News). This means Trump does not see
Taiwan as a part of China, but as a completely separate nation.
The 'One China' policy is the diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one China in
the world, and that Taiwan is a part of that China. Under this policy, the United States has formal
relations with China and not Taiwan. In China's eye, Taiwan is a breakaway province that will be
reunified with the mainland one day. As a result of this, the U.S. holds a non-official relationship
with the island (BBC News). If a country wants to have relations with China, they have to
acknowledge the fact that China does not see Taiwan as an independent nation, and, therefore,
they cannot speak to them separately and make deals outside of China's knowledge.
I think it would be smart of Trump to maintain that non-official relationship with Taiwan
and not try to treat Taiwan as a separate nation from China. If he starts treating the nations as
separate, then there will be backlash from China and it may cause a war to break out. A phone call

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does not determine whether or not Trump will make the relationship between U.S. and Taiwan
official, but knowing Trump, he will make the dumbest decisions because he wants to go against
Washington, D.C.. It is not in the U.S.'s best interest to get into a rivalry with China because we
need them as an ally.
The article relates to class, because we discussed how Taiwan is named a "Republic of
China" and how China does not see Taiwan as an independent nation. The western world sees
Taiwan as independent, but still wants to keep good relations with China. Taiwan has been given
a seat in the U.N. and has received aid from the U.S.. Taiwan is also one of the four Asian Tigers,
meaning it has rapid industrialization, foreign investment, and export processing zones for high
value goods. The Asian Tigers also use similar strategies as Japan, which is an industrial giant and
very adept at emulating the west.

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Works Cited
BBC News. "China 'seriously concerned' over Trump's Taiwan policy." British Broadcasting
Corporation, 12 December 2016. Bbc.com. 13 December 2016.
BBC News. "What is the 'One China' policy?" British Broadcasting Corporation, 14 December\
2016. Bbc.com. 14 December 2016.