NOT AGAIN

Trump Rebuffs Taiwan’s Suggestion for Another Phone Chat

Boasts of “very good personal relationship” with China.

U.S. President Donald Trump has shot down a suggestion from Taiwan’s president to hold another phone conversation, saying he doesn’t want to risk jeopardizing ties with China. “Look, my problem is I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi. I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation,” Trump told Reuters on Thursday, referring to Beijing’s role in soothing tensions with North Korea. He went on to praise Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “very good man” who’s doing “an amazing job.” “So I wouldn’t want to be causing difficulty right now for him,” he said. His comments came in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s remark earlier in the day that she wouldn’t rule out talking to the U.S. president by phone again. The pair’s first phone chat, held after Trump won the presidential election, triggered a major diplomatic spat between the U.S. and China, with Beijing sternly reminding the U.S. to respect the “One China” policy, which holds that Taiwan is a part of China. The phone call was the first between a U.S. leader and the leader of Taiwan in nearly four decades, breaking with diplomatic protocols.