The Trump–Tsai call was a telephone conversation between the U.S.
President-elect
An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and the
President of the Republic of China
The president of the Republic of China, also known as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. Republic of China (1912– ...
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...
which took place on December 2, 2016. This event marked the first time since 1979 that a U.S. president or President-elect had directly spoken with a ROC President. In the call, Tsai congratulated Trump for his victory in the
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The p ...
. The two leaders spoke for around 10 minutes, focusing on politics, economy, and security in
Asia-Pacific. Following the call, Trump publicized this on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and said thank you to "the President of Taiwan". After Trump's transition team confirmed the event, the
Presidential Office of Taiwan released a statement about the content of the call.
Several prominent
Republicans praised the call between the two leaders, saying that the United States needs no more pressure from the government of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(commonly called "China"), which does not recognize the ROC government and claims Taiwan is part of its territory.
Some commentators from U.S. media outlets said that the call humiliated
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
as it seemed a violation of a diplomatic practice. Other media and comments criticized the One-China policy, saying that Trump's move was morally right and strategically correct for American interests.
Wang Yi, the
Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China
The minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the China, People's Republic of China and one of the country's top and most important Stat ...
subsequently responded that this event is only a "small trick" played by Taiwan and will not change the
One-China Policy
''One China'' is a phrase describing the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) based on mainland China, and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the Taiwan Area. "One China" asserts that there is only one ''de jure'' C ...
. A spokesperson for the Presidential Office in
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country ...
expressed that there is no conflict between the
Cross-Strait relations and the
Taiwan–U.S. relations. The
Obama administration
Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
stated that the U.S. would uphold the One-China Policy. Trump later responded by saying that the U.S. did not have to follow that policy.
Background
In 1972, U.S. President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
visited Mainland China, and met with
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP)
Chairman
The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...
, then the two parties agreed on the "One-China" policy (i.e. the positions of then governments of the two sides across the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
Names
Former names of the Tai ...
"at that time" both claim there is only "one China" in the world). In 1978 President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
's administration formally cut ties with the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, establishing relations with the PRC. Since the severing of diplomatic relations, the Presidents of the United States and the Republic of China have never formally met or made calls in line with the policy. But the 1979
Act of Congress
An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...
Taiwan Relations Act
The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ) is an Act of Congress, act of the United States Congress. Since the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formal recognition of the China, People's Republic of China, the Act has defined ...
and the 1982
Six Assurances between the governments between U.S. and Taiwan have defined the substantial relations between the peoples of the United States and Taiwan.
After
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...
's victory in Taiwan's
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The p ...
in 2016, analysts predicted that Tsai's
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
would install a largely pro-American government, in contrast to that of former President
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, t=馬英九; pinyin: ''Mǎ Yīngjiǔ''; ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT ...
's
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
, which called for close co-operation with Beijing.
Call
After the call on December 2, Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!" and then hours later "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."
On December 4, Trump raised doubt on Twitter: "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) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!"
Reactions
Trump transition team
Vice President-elect
Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
said "the conversation with the President of Taiwan was a courtesy call." "It's striking to me that President Obama would reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba and be hailed as a hero. And President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from the democratically-elected President of Taiwan and it becomes something of a thing in the media." "You're going to see ... President Donald Trump ... engage the world on America's terms."
Former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
, a close adviser to Trump, praised the President-elect's conversation with
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
ese President of 23.5 million people as he would be to communicate with the democratically elected leader of any nation. He compares Trump's Taiwan call to
President Obama's visit to Cuba to hang out with the Castro dictatorship and suggests the dialogue resets a more favorable relationship for the U.S. with China. "...
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
mythology that we have to somehow let the Chinese dictate to us is nonsense... They are not going to be able to intimidate us." He urged Trump to reform the
DOS
DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...
to more closely align with
American values.
Congress
House Speaker
Paul Ryan
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...
said, "I spoke with the President of Taiwan when she was transferring planes in Miami a couple months ago. It is prudent for the President-elect to take congratulatory calls — absolutely. I think for him to not take a congratulatory call would in and of itself be considered a snub. So I think everything is fine."
Senator
Tom Cotton
Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician and United States Army, Army veteran serving since 2015 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Arkansas. A memb ...
commends President-elect Trump for his conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen, which reaffirms U.S. commitment "America's policy toward Taiwan is governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, under which we maintain close ties with Taiwan and support its democratic system... I have met with President Tsai twice and I'm confident she expressed to the president-elect the same desire for closer relations with the United States."
Chair of the
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Matt Salmon applauded Trump's historic conversation and said "America has always been a champion of democratic values and individual freedoms, and I applaud the President-elect for making a strong statement in support of those values around the world."
Congressman
Dana Rohrabacher
Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher ( ; born June 21, 1947) is an American former politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2019. Representing for the last three terms of his House tenure ...
applauded Trump's phone call with Taiwan's president was "terrific" because of the diplomatic warning it sent to China. He said that, "He showed the dictators in Beijing that he's not a pushover. China has had an enormously aggressive foreign policy and by him actually going to Taiwan, he's showing the people in Beijing that they cannot have this aggressive foreign policy and expect to be treated just the same by an American president."
Experts and media
Former
Governor of Utah
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
as well as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and China
Jon Huntsman says "The call came in from President Tsai Ing-wen. He made the choice to take it, which I think was absolutely right... I'm sure he's got a broader strategy."
Former
US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton
John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...
also supports Trump's interaction with President of Taiwan with democratic government, free press, and free-market economic system. He said, "Nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to. It's ridiculous to think that the phone call upsets decades of anything." "We should shake the relationship up. For the past several years China has made aggressive... belligerent claims in the South China Sea."
Former deputy Undersecretary of the Navy and Professor
Seth Cropsey said claiming that democratic Taiwan is part of the totalitarian People's Republic of China is just like the story of
The Emperor's New Clothes.
Former managing editor of ''
Foreign Affairs
''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
'', contributing editor of ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine, and now
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
host
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's '' Fareed Zakaria GPS'' and writes a weekly paid column for ''The Washington Post.'' He has been a c ...
said the President-elect Trump's call with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan was not a bad idea while some people are getting a bit too critical. "The truth of the matter is we need leverage with China... on many issues we need to be able to push them harder... The key here is that it should be part of a thought-through strategy."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trump-Tsai call
2016 controversies
2016 in international relations
December 2016 in Asia
December 2016 in the United States
Aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election
Political career of Donald Trump
Taiwan–United States relations
China–United States relations