United States president-elect Donald Trump spoke to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday, risking a possible diplomatic rift with the mainland.
Trump broke a 37-year precedent by calling the Taiwan leader. The precedent limits direct talks between a US president or president-elect and the leader of Taiwan, an island state off the Chinese coast. No US president has spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader ever since former president Jimmy Carter announced full diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and ended relations with Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.
"President-elect Trump spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, who offered her congratulations. During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States. President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year," Trump's transition team said in a statement.
Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the conversation between the two leaders is the first publicly reported call between a US president or president-elect and the Taiwanese leader ever since America established diplomatic relations with China in 1979.
The Republican on Friday evening tweeted to clarify as to who initiated the call. In his Tweet, Trump said, "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!"
The telephone call between the two is the first major sign of the unpredictability Trump has promised to bring in the relations of the United States with the rest of the world.
