China blasts Donald Trump after he threatened to ignore decades-long ‘One China policy’ unless US gets new trade deal
State-run Chinese newspaper, Global Times, said Donald Trump needed to learn about foreign affairs "humbly"
DONALD Trump has been branded “as ignorant as a child” by a Chinese newspaper after he expressed doubts about the "One China" policy.
The President-elect threw four decades of foreign diplomacy into doubt when he said he did not see why the US should be bound by the policy during a TV interview.
After hearing his comments, state-run Chinese newspaper, Global Times, ran a blistering editorial, saying Trump needed to learn about foreign affairs "humbly".
Trump provoked the paper after questioning the decades-long policy, under which the US has formal ties with China rather than Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province.
"I fully understand the 'One China' policy,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.
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“But I don't understand why we have to be bound by the 'One China' policy unless we make a deal with China, having to do with other things, including trade."
The Global Times slammed his comments and ruled out negotiation over the policy.
“The one-China policy is not something that can be negotiated," the paper wrote.
“It seems Trump knows only about business. He thinks he can put a price on everything.
“Trump needs to study foreign affairs humbly. He particularly needs to learn what the relationship between China and US is about,” the editorial said.
“Many people will be amazed by how ‘business-minded’ the new US leader is, and how he is as ignorant as a child in terms of foreign policy.”
The Global Times, which is published by the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily, said China needs to launch a "resolute struggle" with Trump.
It came days after Trump sparked an outcry by taking a congratulatory phone call from the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen.
Trump’s critics pointed out the call was the first time a US president or president-elect has spoken to a Taiwanese leader since 1979.
The US has not formally recognised Taiwan as an independent state since it re-established diplomatic ties with the communist mainland over 40 years ago.
China lodged a formal complaint over the 10-minute phone call.
Following the backlash, Trump took to Twitter to insist he did not need China’s permission to engage with Taiwan.
He accused Beijing of currency manipulation and flexing its military might in the South China Sea.
“Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn’t tax them),” Trump tweeted.
“Or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don’t think so!”
His outburst came just hours after his team tried to downplay the fact that Trump could threaten a diplomatic rift with Beijing.