Beijing will ‘take revenge’ on Donald Trump if he goes back on the One-China policy, state-run newspaper claims
Warning over formal ties with Taiwan comes just hours after its president lands in Texas
CHINA has warned Donald Trump that Beijing will "take revenge" if he backed off on the One-China policy which doesn't recognise the state of Taiwan.
State-run tabloid Global Times warned the President-elect the Communist Party wouldn't take the slight lying down just hours after Taiwan's president made a controversial stopover in Houston, Texas.
The Donald courted controversy shortly after his election win over Hillary Clinton when he accepted a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai met with senior Republican lawmakers during her stopover in the southern city yesterday en route to Central America, where she will visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
She will also stop in San Francisco, California on January 13, on her way back to Taiwan.
China had asked the United States not to allow Tsai to enter or have formal government meetings under the One-China policy.
Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a rogue province which should not be allowed to conduct international state-to-state relations.
The subject is a sensitive one for China, who refer to the country as Chinese Taipei and maintains any nation wanting to have formal ties with Beijing must acknowledge there is only "One China" in the world of which Taiwan is a part.
A photo tweeted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott showed him meeting Tsai, with a small table between them adorned with the U.S., Texan and Taiwanese flags.
Tsai's office said on Monday she also spoke by telephone with U.S. senator John McCain, head of the powerful Senate Committee on Armed Services.
She also met with Texas Senator Ted Cruz who ran against Donald Trump for the Republican leadership.
"Sticking to (the One-China) principle is not a capricious request by China upon US presidents, but an obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific," said the Global Times editorial yesterday.
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The influential tabloid is published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily.
Trump triggered protests from Beijing last month by accepting a congratulatory telephone call from Tsai and questioning the US commitment to China's position that Taiwan is part of one China.
"If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining," said the Global Times.
Mr Cruz said some members of Congress had received a letter from the Chinese consulate asking them not to meet Tsai during her stopovers.
Mr Cruz said in a statement: "The People's Republic of China needs to understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves.
"This is not about the PRC. This is about the US relationship with Taiwan, an ally we are legally bound to defend."
Cruz said he and Tsai discussed upgrading bilateral relations and furthering economic cooperation between their countries, including increased access to Taiwan markets that would benefit Texas ranchers, farmers and small businesses.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Monday urged "relevant US officials" to handle the Taiwan issue appropriately to avoid harming China-US ties.
Lu said: "We firmly oppose leaders of the Taiwan region, on the so-called basis of a transit visit, having any form of contact with US officials and engaging in activities that interfere with and damage China-US relations."
In a dinner speech on Saturday to hundreds of overseas Taiwanese, Tsai said the United States holds a "special place in the hearts of the people of Taiwan" and that the island via bilateral exchanges has provided more than 320,000 jobs directly and indirectly to the American people.
Tsai said Taiwan looked to create more US jobs through deeper investment, trade and procurement.
Her office said James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles relations between the US and Taiwan in place of usual diplomatic arrangements, told the Taiwan president in Houston that the United States was continuing efforts to persuade China to resume dialogue with her country.
China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of the island from the People's Republic.
The Global Times, whose stance does not equate with government policy, also targeted Tsai in the editorial, saying that the mainland would likely impose further diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, warning that "Tsai needs to face the consequences for every provocative step she takes".
It added: "It should also impose military pressure on Taiwan and push it to the edge of being reunified by force, so as to effectively affect the approval rating of the Tsai administration."
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