Trump's Call with Taiwan President Was a 'Courtesy Call': Mike Pence

By Precious Gem de Peralta
Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C.
President-elect Trump has used the Twitter again to announce the call he received from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. He also responded to his critics who have not taken the call lightly. Furthermore, he expressed his dislike in China for devaluing their currency, heavily taxing US products that enter their country and establishing massive military complex in the South China Sea. Gage Skidmore via Flickr

President-elect Donald Trump's tweets have always attracted so much attention. It's as controversial as almost everything else he says. However, the next US President has recently been scrutinized for a phone call initiated by Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. In the usual Trump fashion, he went to Twitter to confirm the said call. Though some analysts have shrugged it off as a minor mistake, his later tweet directed to China was not taken lightly by his critics.

Trump has always been antagonistic of China since his campaign. He brought it up again after he let the public know about his talk with President Tsai. Trump pointed out what China has done to hurt the US that includes devaluing their currency. This gave Chinese companies an unfair advantage against US companies. Thus, Trump's complaint that it has made it hard for American companies to compete in such a market. He also added that the Communist country is putting too much tax on US products that enter their country. This is contrary to the US' tax policy on Chinese products. Furthermore, Trump made note of country's massive military complex in the South China Sea.

Trump's statement in Twitter regarding China is a complete opposite of his view of Taiwan, or at least Taiwan's President. He said, "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!" According to Reuters, the phone conversation between of Trump with the world leader has prompted "diplomatic protest in China". In fact, the New York Times reported that the Chinese government has called White House. Perhaps to respond to his critics, he later tweeted, "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

Vice President-elect Mike Pence came into his defense. He assured that the call does not mean there would be any shift to the US' policy towards China. Pence said that it was only a "courtesy call". He added, "The democratically elected president of Taiwan called to congratulate the president-elect." Reuters reported that this one call is actually the first by a US president-elect or president with a Taiwanese leader. This is since President Jimmy Carter decided to form diplomatic relations with China in 1979, according to CNN.

Pence also informed the public that the call with President Tsai is akin to Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping's phone conversation when he won the US Presidential Election. He reiterated on NBC's Meet the Press that there was "not a discussion about policy". China has to know that it "was a moment of courtesy" and nothing else that should trigger tensions between the two world powers.

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