Trump May Lift Russian Sanctions, One China Policy
China described the One China policy as nonnegotiable.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President-elect Donald Trump said he may lift the Russian sanctions and has no commitment to the One China policy:
“If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody’s doing some really great things?” he said.
Trump also said the One China policy remains up in the air “until he saw what he considered progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices.”
Yeah, needless to say, those comments did not please Beijing.
Remember, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russia since March 2014 when Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea from Ukraine. But I noticed the interview only mentioned the sanctions President Obama’s administration imposed in late December due to possible interference in our election.
These comments don’t help suspicions of those who believe a cozy relationship exists between Trump and Putin since media outlets published a dossier this week that demonstrated ties between the two [editor’s note (FS): a dossier that is being debunked as we run this post]. However, the intelligence community has not confirmed any truth to it.
Trump said he would meet with Putin shortly after his inauguration if the two sides can make arrangements. On Saturday, some outlets published reports that Trump made Putin his first meeting after the inauguration, but incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the reports.
Turning to China, Trump told the Journal that “[E]verything is under negotiation including One China.” Tensions have already risen between Trump and China due to a phone call he had with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in December. china does not recognize Taiwan’s independence after it broke off from the mainland in 1949. Washington, D.C., stopped recognizing Taiwan as well in 1979 when the government adopted the One China policy. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Mr. Trump has said in the past he would label China a currency manipulator after he takes office. In the interview, he said he wouldn’t take that step on his first day in the White House. “I would talk to them first,” he said.
He added: “Certainly they are manipulators. But I’m not looking to do that.”
But he made plain his displeasure with China’s currency practices. “Instead of saying, ‘We’re devaluating our currency,’ they say, ‘Oh, our currency is dropping.’ It’s not dropping. They’re doing it on purpose.
“Our companies can’t compete with them now because our currency is strong and it’s killing us.”
Those comments did not please Beijing at all according to Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang:
“There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” Mr. Lu said in a statement that was posted on the foreign ministry’s website on Saturday.
“In order to avoid disruption to the sound and steady development of the China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in key areas, we urge relevant parties in the U.S. to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question, approach Taiwan-related issues with prudence and honor the commitment made by all previous U.S. administrations,” the statement said.
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Comments
When Russia stood by Ukrainians aborted, threatened, and displaced by the Western/Obama-backed coup. As they did with Syrians when they were threatened by Western/Obama-backed terrorists and immigration reform (e.g. refugee crisis).
So, lifting sanctions would be a rational response with a change of administration. The Soviet threat was an Obama et al creation.
As for China’s Pro-Choice/abortion… I mean, one-child…. selective-child… I mean, one-China Policy, America traditionally stood by Taiwanese aborted, threatened, and displaced by the left-wing regime in mainland China. As they have with Israelis during numerous Arab Springs over nearly a century.
Well, this is just entirely inaccurate.
Russia did not stand by the Ukraine. The Ukrainian Revolution of 2014 was in direct response to then President Yanukovych refusing to sign the agreement with the EU, as promised, and, instead, signing a treaty with Russia and accepting a multi-million dollar loan from the Russians. When the people objected, through largely peaceful demonstrations, the government security forces cracked down on them, further inflaming the unrest. Yanukovych subsequently fled to Russia and remained there, abandoning the Ukraine. Russia used Ukrainians of Russian extraction living in the Crimea, and other places in the Ukraine, as a means to justify using armed force against the government of the Ukraine. back in 2008, Russia began issuing Russian passports to residents of the Ukraine, most of whom were in the Crimean Peninsula. This was designed to allow Russia to move troops into the Ukraine on the pretext of “protecting” Russian citizens. This is the same ploy that they used in South Osstia in 2008. Russia also provided direct support for violent protestors in the Ukraine. When the Ukraine government responded, anonymous members of the Russian military began military operations against the government of the Ukraine. Then, when the Ukrainian government withdrew from the Crimea, Russia annexed it as the Crimea Federal District of the Russian Federation.
So, lifting the sanctions imposed for the invasion and annexing of the Crimea should not be lifted. No sanctioned were justified following the US elections in 2016, as there existed no hard evidence that the Russian government was responsible for actions.
As for Taiwan, the US has traditionally supported the Nationalist Chinese. The Nationalist Chinese [Kuomintang] represented the recognized government of China at the beginning of WWII, the “central government” being largely composed of various warlords holding areas of China. They were displaced by an armed Communist revolution, in 1949. The KMT sought refuge on the island of Formosa [Taiwan]. The Communists would probably have eventually overrun Taiwan, but their involvement in the Korean War made it expeditious for the US to support Taiwan as a bastion against a total takeover of southern Asia by the Communists. This still makes sense today, as the aims of Communist China have not changed to any appreciable degree.
I am not going to get deep in the weeds of the Ukrainian/Russian spat — they’ve been at it for centuries and I’m sure Mr. Trump isn’t going to broker some permanent deal. I don’t see any vital US interests in the Ukraine, I don’t see the Ukrainian government/people as an ideal force for good (or bad), and I’m not interested in having the US sucked into something we don’t understand and can’t fix. If Mr. Trump can negotiate something that gets us something useful, great.
I think you make a lot of sense. I am deeply sympathetic to the Ukrainians, but have to acknowledge that their government appears to be just as corrupt as the Russian government is. We have too many problems that need fixing here at home, we’ve gotten way too carried away with this policeman of the world thing we’ve been trying.
Indeed. Remember when Russia meddled in Cuba? We didn’t like that very much, either.
Taiwan is for tiawan now. No more being a pawn.
It’s good to see a president willing to stand up for them.
As for Russia and the Ukraine, don’t we have enough on our plate at home?
The Republican party is the political wing of the Kremlin.