More News About Trump/Xi Phone Call

choi

(1) Mark Landler, Foreign Policy Quickly Sheds Its Sharp Edge. New York Times, Feb 11, 2017 (front page).
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/ ... its-sharp-edge.html

Quote:

"As Mr Trump begins to shape his foreign policy, he is proving to be less of a radical than either his campaign statements or his tempestuous early phone calls with foreign leaders would suggest.

"Among his [defense secretary Jim Mattis's] travel companions was Matthew Pottinger, who recently became the senior director for Asia in the National Security Council. [This is the first time I learn of Pottinger's installment, whose predecessor are Jeffrey A Bader (under Obama) and Michael J Green (2004-2005, under George W Bush) ]

"Mr Trump's retreat on One China, experts said, also should be seen in a regional context. He offered the concession to Mr Xi on the eve of a three-day visit by Mr Abe * * * To allow the tensions between China and the United States to fester during such a prominent display of hospitality to the Japanese, analysts said, would have further poisoned relations between Washington and Beijing. At his news conference with Mr Abe, Mr Trump took pains to say he and Mr Xi were developing their own rapport.

(2) Carol E Lee and Te-Ping Chen, US, China Coordinated Policy Reversal; Trump pledges to honor longstanding policy not to recognize Taiwan diplomatically. Wall Street Journal,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bei ... a-policy-1486737397

Quote:

(a) "Mr Trump and Mr Xi weren't five minutes into their phone call Thursday night when the issue of the new administration's threat to tear up the longstanding US agreement with China to withhold diplomatic recognition of Taiwan was put to rest, said a senior US official.

" 'I would like you to uphold the 'One China’ policy,' Mr Xi said to Mr Trump in a scripted exchange.

" 'At your request, I will do that,' replied Mr Trump, the official said.

(3) Ben Blanchard (in Beijing), China Gets an Early Win off Trump, But Many Battles Remainwww.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-china-idUSKBN15Q05P

(b) "White House officials declined to specify what if anything Mr Trump got out of relenting on the One China policy. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang didn't directly address a question about whether China had had to make any concessions in return.

(c) "The two leaders went on to have a 45-minute discussion about issues ranging from trade to personal lives, spouses and families, the senior US official said. * * * The White House team had worked for several days to arrange the call * * * For Mr Xi, the moment reflected how China’s wait-and-see approach to the new US president paid off. Beijing had made clear to the Trump administration that US adherence to the 'One China' policy was an inviolable precondition for relations. * * * Mr. Xi expressed his appreciation during the call, according to the state-run Xinhua News agency. A senior US official said Mr Xi took time to praise Mr Trump for his election victory, which the new president appreciated.

(d) " 'It was a very, very warm conversation. I think we are on the process of getting along very well,' Mr Trump said of the phone call with Mr Xi [at the 'news conference with Mr Abe,' see the last quotation in (1)]. 'I believe that that will all work out very well for everybody, China, Japan, the United States and everybody in the region.'

(3) Ben Blanchard (in Beijing), China Gets an Early Win off Trump, But Many Battles Remain. Reuters, Feb 11, 2017
www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-china-idUSKBN15Q05P
("Laying the foundation for that call had been the low-key engagement of China's former ambassador to Washington and top diplomat, the urbane and fluent English-speaking Yang Jiechi, with Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn")

My comment: There is no need to read the rest of the Reuters report.