The call, confirmed by Trump transition spokeswoman Hope Hicks, was the first such contact with Taiwan by a president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter adopted a one-China policy in 1979.

The transition team later issued a statement saying that the two had noted that "close economic, political and security ties exist between Taiwan and the United States."

An official of Taiwan's representative office in Washington could not confirm the call but said it would be "historic" and the first contact between U.S. and Taiwanese leaders since diplomatic ties were severed in 1979 and Washington established official ties with Beijing.

The official said the Washington office was not involved in setting up the call. There was no immediate comment from China, which is likely to be angered because it views Taiwan as a renegade province.

A former diplomat who helped arrange the call and did not want to be identified said Chinese officials he spoke to beforehand said they were not troubled by Trump’s phone call because he was not yet president. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Tsai Ing-wen was one of four world leaders contacted by Trump on Friday, raising questions about whether he is effectively coordinating with the U.S. State Department before reaching out to leaders overseas.

Advisers to the Republican president-elect have indicated that he is likely to take a more robust policy toward China than Democratic President Barack Obama and that he plans to boost the U.S. military in part in response to China's increasing power in Asia. However, details of his plans remain scant.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump was entitled to change policy, but his approach was potentially dangerous.

"Foreign policy consistency is a means, not an end. It's not sacred. Thus, it's Trump's right to shift policy, alliances, strategy," he said in an note on Twitter. However, he added:

"What has happened in the last 48 hours is not a shift. These are major pivots in foreign policy w/out any plan. That's how wars start."

Winston Lord, former U.S. ambassador to China and former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the strategic importance of Trump's move was unclear.

"Like so many things with Trump, who knows? This man is ignorant about foreign policy and is flying by the seat of his pants, so it is difficult to assess the significance.

"Having said that, I have no problem with his talking to Madame Tsai; Taiwan is a good friend and although our relations are unofficial, I think it’s important to maintain close bonds with Taiwan."

Douglas Paal, a former official of the U.S. National Security Council who served as U.S. representative to Taiwan from 2002-2006, said nothing Trump had said in the campaign suggested he wanted to rebuild the relationship with Taiwan relationship at the expense of the China relationship.

"From the information I have so far, this is a standalone item, but the Chinese will feel the need to make a major protest so there isn’t more of this."</s>Image copyright AP Image caption Donald Trump's team said he "congratulated" Tsai Ing-wen on becoming president of Taiwan in January

China's foreign ministry says it has lodged a complaint with the US after President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Taiwan's leader in a phone call.

China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province. US policy set in 1979 cut formal relations with Taiwan.

Mr Trump's transition team said he and Tsai Ing-wen noted "close economic, political, and security ties".

The US is Taiwan's most important ally and provides Taiwan with sufficient weaponry to defend itself.

China said it had lodged a "solemn representation" with Washington.

According to the state news agency Xinhua, China urged the US "to cautiously, properly handle Taiwan issue to avoid unnecessary disturbance to Sino-US relations".

Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed the call as a "petty trick" by Taiwan, Chinese state media said.

What happened?

Mr Trump tweeted on Friday that Ms Tsai had called him to congratulate him on winning the US election.

His team said that the US president-elect had also congratulated Ms Tsai on becoming the president of Taiwan last January.

No US president or president-elect has spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader for decades.

Following media reports pointing out the risks of angering China, Mr Trump tweeted: "Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

The White House has said Mr Trump's conversation does not signal any change in US policy. US media reported that the White House learned of the call only after it had happened.

Mr Trump's spokeswoman said he was "well aware" of US policy towards Taiwan.

Read more: What's behind the China-Taiwan divide?

What is the problem?

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption China is closely watching Mr Trump's transition to president

The split between China and Taiwan goes back to 1949, when the Republic of China (ROC) Kuomintang (KMT) government fled the mainland to Taiwan after being defeated by the communists under Mao Zedong. The KMT held China's seat on the UN Security Council and was, for a while, recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government.

But in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing. Only a handful of countries now recognise Taiwan's government.

Washington cut formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, expressing its support for Beijing's "one country, two systems" concept, which states that Taiwan is part of China.

But despite the cut, the US remains, by far, Taiwan's most important friend, and its only ally.

The Taiwan Relations Act promises to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons. It says that any attack by China on Taiwan would be considered of "grave concern" to the US.

China has hundreds of missiles pointing towards Taiwan, and has threatened to use force if it formally declares independence.

President Tsai, Taiwan's first female leader, led the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to a landslide victory in the January 2016 election.

The DPP has traditionally leaned towards independence from China. President Tsai's administration does not accept the "One China" policy.

Read more: Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's shy but steely leader

From concern to alarm and anger - Carrie Gracie, BBC China editor, Beijing

Image copyright Reuters Image caption In an image released by her office, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen is seen speaking on the phone to Mr Trump

Mr Trump's decision to turn his back on four decades of US protocol on Taiwan and speak directly to a president of Taiwan has stunned policymakers in Beijing.

Since his election last month, they have struggled to understand who is advising Donald Trump on Asia and what his China policy will look like.

This move will turn concern into alarm and anger.

Beijing sees Taiwan as a province. Denying it any of the trappings of an independent state is one of the key priorities of Chinese foreign policy.

Read more from Carrie: The Trump phone call that will stun Beijing

Mild reaction - Cindy Sui, BBC, Taipei

China's reaction is relatively mild. It doesn't want to get off on the wrong foot with Mr Trump. And it sees Mr Trump as an inexperienced politician, so for now it's willing to forgive him and not play this up.

It may also be somewhat reassured by statements from the US that its policy on China and Taiwan has not changed. But behind the scenes it's safe to say China is working hard to "educate" the Trump team on not repeating such diplomatic faux pas.

This move by Taiwan's President Tsai will further infuriate Beijing and make it distrust her even more and see her as favouring Taiwan's formal independence from China.</s>Trump's conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen drew an irritated, although understated, response from China, as Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the contact was "just a small trick by Taiwan" that he believed would not change U.S. policy toward China, according to Hong Kong's Phoenix TV.

"The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged," Wang was quoted as saying. Chinese officials said they lodged a complaint with the U.S. and reiterated a commitment to seeking "reunification" with the island, which they consider a renegade province.

After the phone conversation Friday, Trump tweeted that Tsai "CALLED ME." He also groused about the reaction to the call: "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

The U.S. shifted diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979. But the governments in Washington and Taipei have maintained close unofficial ties and deep economic and relations. The U.S. is required by law to provide Taiwan with weapons to maintain its .

The call was the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the Nov. 8 election. He has apparently undertaken calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily given by the State Department, which oversees U.S. diplomacy.

"President-elect Trump is just shooting from the hip, trying to take phone calls of congratulatory messages from leaders around the world without consideration for the implications," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Over the decades, the status of Taiwan has been one of the most sensitive issues in U.S.-China relations. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory to be retaken by force, if necessary, if it seeks independence. It would regard any recognition of a Taiwanese leader as a head of state as unacceptable. Taiwanese newspapers ran banner headlines Sunday about the call, and two noted on their front pages Sunday that Trump referred to Tsai as "the president of Taiwan," a formulation that would be a huge shift in American policy and infuriate China.

But Douglas Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which unofficially represents U.S. interests in Taipei, said it was too soon to judge whether Trump was going to lead that shift, or if the incident was just a "complicated accident."

"Beijing will watch closely to see which it is," said Paal, now for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "But until someone from Trump Tower explains further, it is unknowable."

The Taiwanese presidential office said Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan. "The (Taiwanese) president is looking forward to strengthening bilateral interactions and contacts as well as setting up closer relations," the statement said.

Tsai also told Trump that she hoped the U.S. would support Taiwan in its participation in international affairs, the office said, in an apparent reference to China's efforts to isolate Taiwan from global institutions such as the United Nations.

"It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory," Geng Shuang, a ministry spokesman, said in a statement. "The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing China."</s>TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — With a 10-minute phone call and two tweets, Donald Trump inspired banner headlines and renewed hopes across Taiwan for a stronger partnership with the United States, while also inflaming the complex relationships between the U.S., mainland China, and the self-governing island China regards as a renegade province.

Whether the U.S. president-elect meant to jump into the generational fight between China and Taiwan remains an open question. But by speaking to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Trump upended four decades of American foreign policy and engaged China directly on the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing has threatened to reclaim by force if necessary. No American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan’s leader since the U.S. ended their formal diplomatic relationship in 1979.

Four of his words drew particular attention in Taiwanese newspapers: Trump’s reference, in a follow-up tweet, to Tsai being “the President of Taiwan.”

The phrase is far from benign for China, which regards any reference to a Taiwanese president as an unacceptable acknowledgement of Taiwan’s statehood. Official Chinese pronouncements typically refer to the Taiwanese president as “the Taiwan regional leader.”

Chinese leaders have indicated they dislike Tsai, who was elected in January from a pro-Taiwan independence party and became the island’s first female president. An editorial from the state-run China Daily newspaper admonished Tsai and said the call would “bring nothing substantial but illusionary pride.”

As for Trump, the newspaper said the incident “came as a striking move,” but was not as important as “it seems to be.”

Taiwanese are generally considered to support independence or the status quo, in which China and Taiwan maintain robust social and economic exchanges while the island retains its democracy and de facto independence, over unification with China. Chinese President Xi Jinping, however, has warned that the issue of unification cannot be put off indefinitely.

Yang Chih-kai, a 22-year-old university student at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, said Saturday that the call raised Taiwanese hopes for a stronger relationship with the United States.

“People will think that the U.S. will keep on helping Taiwan protect itself against China’s threat,” Yang said.

Chen Chun-hao, a 43-year-old designer, said Trump might “bring more help” to Taiwan now that both sides had opened a dialogue.

“I believe that this could help Taiwan in its international status and its global situation,” Chen said.

Kao-cheng Wang, dean of Tamkang University’s college of international studies, said he believes Trump might increase American military exports to Taiwan, over Beijing’s vociferous opposition, and try to strengthen economic ties between the two sides.

“Trump will not be restricted by the established foreign policy,” Wang said. “The diplomatic policy may be flexible after he takes office.”

China cut off diplomatic contact with Taiwan in June, one month after Tsai took office, accusing her of refusing to endorse the concept that Taiwan is a part of China. Last month, Xi met with Taiwan’s opposition leader, Nationalist Party Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu.

Zhou Qinfen, a retiree from China’s eastern Jiangsu province visiting Beijing on Sunday, echoed several other Chinese interviewed who said they consider Taiwan to be an inextricable part of China.

“If an American president who has only been recently elected starts opposing the unity of China, the people of China will never agree with that,” she said.

The Taiwanese presidential office said Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan. Tsai also told Trump that she hoped the U.S. would support Taiwan in its participation in international affairs, the office said, in an apparent reference to China’s efforts to isolate Taiwan from global institutions such as the United Nations.

Taiwan’s presidential office spokesman Alex Huang said separately that Taiwan’s relations with China and “healthy” Taiwan-U.S. relations can proceed in parallel. “There is no conflict (in that),” he told reporters in Taipei on Saturday.

After Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed Taiwanese leaders Saturday for playing a “small trick,” China said it would issue a diplomatic complaint with Washington.

That is likely only the beginning of China’s response, said Douglas Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which unofficially represents U.S. interests in Taipei.

Wang’s comment “is intended to give time for Trump to back away from or desist from moves to elevate treatment of Taiwan,” said Paal, now vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “China will watch carefully to see what he does. But Taiwan will be seen as in need of some form of punishment.”

One potential move for China is to apply new pressure to the 22 states that have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, Paal said. Most of the world and the United Nations already recognize Beijing as the official government of China.

What happens next will hinge on whether the call is seen as a “complicated accident” or an intentional signal of new policy, Paal said.

“Beijing will watch closely to see which it is,” he said. “But until someone from Trump Tower explains further, it is unknowable.”

Merchant reported from Beijing. Associated Press journalist Isolda Morillo and news researcher Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.</s>With a Twitter post Friday evening, the business mogul declared the call was of a congratulatory nature and came directly from President Tsai Ing-wen.

Trump's transition team backed up the President-elect's tweet, adding that "during the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States."

Regardless of the nature of the call, it's an act that bucks normal diplomatic protocol, and in the eyes of critics, could pose a dangerous threat to the United States.

Appearing on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront," former US Ambassador Christopher Hill noted just how rare Trump's decision was.

"Eight years during the Reagan administration, this (a call between US and Taiwanese leaders) never happened. Four years during the Bush Senior administration, this never happened. Eight years of Clinton, eight years of George W. Bush and eight years of Obama," said Hill, who served as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under Bush 43. Donald Trump risks showdown with China after call with Taiwan Trump's conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen marks the first publicly reported call between a U.S. President or President-elect, and a Taiwanese leader, since 1979, and Hill said it represents a scary tendency to act without a proper understanding of diplomacy. "This is a huge mistake...we don't need this." - Ambassador Christopher Hill on #Trump's call w Taiwan's president https://t.co/YRTKy4k7H4 — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) December 3, 2016 "It was an example of what is all too often happening now with this incoming administration, this tendency to wing it," he told Burnett. "What I'm concerned about is that rather than acknowledge a mistake, they will double down on it." Still more than a month away from Trump's inauguration, Hill said he believes the nation is likely to be subjected to a wide swath of future instances of rash decision-making. "This is not going to be the last of these kind of things. So, things need to get cleaned up and cleaned up in a hurry in Washington," said Hill. In 1979, the United States acknowledged a set of of protocols formally known as the "One China Policy," a belief system that features Taiwan as part of China. There exists rampant concern that Trump's call with Taiwan will enrage China, and fracture relations between the nations. By Friday night, China had already reached out to the Obama administration. White House officials declined to comment on diplomatic discussions.</s>China lodged a diplomatic protest on Saturday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, but blamed the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own, for the “petty” move.

The 10-minute telephone call with Taiwan’s leadership was the first by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China.”

China’s Foreign Ministry said it had lodged “stern representations” with what it called the “relevant U.S. side,” urging the careful handling of the Taiwan issue to avoid any unnecessary disturbances in ties.

“The one-China principle is the political basis of the China-U.S. relationship,” it said.

The wording implied the protest had gone to the Trump camp, but the ministry provided no explanation.

Speaking earlier, hours after Friday’s telephone call, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointedly blamed Taiwan for the exchange, rather than Trump, a billionaire businessman with little foreign policy experience.

“This is just the Taiwan side engaging in a petty action and cannot change the one-China structure already formed by the international community,” Wang said at an academic forum in Beijing, state media reported. “I believe that it won’t change the long-standing one-China policy of the United States government.”

In comments at the same forum, Wang noted how quickly President Xi Jinping and Trump had spoken by telephone after Trump’s victory, and said Trump had praised China as a great country.

Wang said that exchange had sent “a very positive signal about the future development of Sino-U.S. relations,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website. Taiwan was not mentioned in that call, according to an official Chinese transcript.

Trump said on Twitter that Tsai had initiated the call he had with the Taiwan president. “The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!” he said.

Alex Huang, a spokesman for Tsai, said, “Of course, both sides agreed ahead of time before making contact.”

Trump and Tsai noted that “close economic, political and security ties exist between Taiwan and the United States,” the Trump transition team said in a statement. Taiwan’s presidential office said the two discussed strengthening bilateral interactions and establishing closer cooperation.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said Saturday that the former president of a conservative American think tank played a “crucial” role that led to the call between Trump and Tsai.

Citing anonymous sources, it said Edwin Feulner, the founder of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, was a “crucial figure” in setting up communication channels between the sides.

Feulner led a delegation from the Heritage Foundation on a trip to Taiwan in October and met with Tsai, according to a release at the time from Taiwan’s presidential office.

That release says Tsai called Feulner a “long-time friend to Taiwan” and conveyed her gratitude to his foundation for its support.

China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Relations between the two sides have worsened since Tsai, who heads the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, was elected president in January.

Chinese state media downplayed the possibility of a major blow-up in Beijing’s relations with Washington as Trump prepares to assume office.

An influential state-run tabloid, the Global Times, said in an online editorial that if Trump really overturned the one-China principle upon assuming office, it would create such a crisis with China that he would have little time to do anything else. “We believe this is not something the shrewd Trump wants to do.”

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Trump needed to know Beijing can be a “cooperative partner” as long as Washington respects China’s core interests, including the issue of Taiwan.

“China and the United States are not destined rivals,” it said in an English-language commentary.

Washington remains Taiwan’s most important political ally and sole arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the irony of which was not lost on Trump.

“Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call,” Trump said in another tweet.

Trump has eschewed tradition in other calls with foreign leaders since he won the U.S. election, prompting the White House to encourage him to make use of the diplomatic expertise and counsel of the State Department.

The White House said after Trump’s call that “long-standing policy” on China and Taiwan had not changed.

“We remain firmly committed to our one-China policy,” said Ned Price, a national security spokesman for President Barack Obama. “Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-strait relations.”

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said on CNN that Trump was “well aware of what U.S. policy has been” on Taiwan.

Administration officials said Trump’s team did not alert the White House about the call ahead of time.

Advisers to the Republican president-elect have indicated that he is likely to take a more robust policy toward China than Obama, a Democrat, and that Trump plans to boost the U.S. military in part in response to China’s increasing power in Asia. However, details of his plans remain scant.

Trump lambasted China throughout the U.S. election campaign, drumming up headlines with pledges to slap 45 percent tariffs on imported Chinese goods and label the country a currency manipulator on his first day in office.

Earlier in the week, Trump spoke to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and praised him, according to the Pakistani leader’s office, as a “terrific guy.”

Islamabad and Washington have seen relations sour in recent years over U.S. accusations that Pakistan shelters Islamist militants who kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, a charge denied by the South Asian nation.

Trump also invited Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during what a Duterte aide said was a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation. Duterte has openly insulted Obama, who cancelled a planned meeting with him in September.

A statement issued by Trump’s transition team made no mention of the invitation.</s>NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump said he expected to have most members of his Cabinet announced next week, interviewing more candidates at Trump Tower for top jobs in his administration as he prepares to take office on Jan. 20.

Trump is still weighing whom to choose as secretary of state. The Republican president-elect said Thursday he had chosen retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis as defense secretary and would make a formal announcement on that on Monday.

“We have tremendous people joining the Cabinet and beyond the Cabinet. You’ll be seeing almost all of them next week,” Trump said in an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News.

Congress is expected to approve Mattis despite Democratic concerns that it ignores a long tradition of civilian control of the military.

For Mattis to be confirmed, the Senate and the House must pass a waiver exempting him from a law written when the Department of Defense was created to ensure that the military is under civilian command.

Legislators have granted such a waiver only once, in 1950, when Congress passed an act that allowed Gen. George Marshall, who had retired in 1945, to serve as Pentagon chief.

The 66-year-old Mattis, who is revered by fellow Marines, retired 3½ years ago. The 1947 National Security Act requires a seven-year gap between active-duty military service and the Cabinet position, leaving the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff as the Pentagon’s top uniformed military position.

Even without Trump’s full foreign policy team in place, he had more phone calls with foreign leaders Friday, breaking tradition by speaking with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a transition team spokeswoman said, in a move likely to infuriate China and expected to complicate relations.

The call, confirmed by Trump transition spokeswoman Hope Hicks, was the first such contact with Taiwan by a president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter adopted a one-China policy in 1979.

The transition team later issued a statement saying that the two had noted that “close economic, political and security ties exist between Taiwan and the United States.”

An official of Taiwan’s representative office in Washington could not confirm the call but said it would be “historic” and the first contact between U.S. and Taiwanese leaders since diplomatic ties were severed in 1979 and Washington established official ties with Beijing.

The official said the Washington office was not involved in setting up the call. There was no immediate comment from China, which is likely to be angered because it views Taiwan as a renegade province.

Trump also invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation, according to a Duterte aide. Duterte has sparred with Democratic President Barack Obama and insulted him. Obama canceled a planned meeting with him in September.

A statement issued by Trump’s transition team made no mention of an invitation.

Domestically, Trump plans to move quickly after taking office on his goals to overhaul taxation, health care and immigration laws, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said in an interview published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Top priorities include curbing illegal immigration, abolishing and replacing President Barack Obama’s signature health care program, and filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court, Pence told the newspaper.

Asked what he would do on his first day in office, Trump told Fox News he may address his campaign pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico, though he did not go into specifics.

“We could do the wall, we’re going to do some repealing, we’re going to do some executive orders that we think are inappropriate,” Trump told Fox, referring to the possibility of reversing executive orders issued by Obama, a Democrat, during his eight-year term.

Trump is weighing whom to put in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, which enforces immigration law and plays a key role in preventing terror attacks; a director of national intelligence; and several Cabinet posts dealing with energy and the environment.

On Friday, Jay Cohen, former undersecretary of Homeland Security for science and technology and a retired Navy rear admiral, told reporters in Trump Tower that he interviewed for a position he would not reveal.

“Cybersecurity was discussed, and I believe that President-elect Trump understands fully the magnitude of that challenge,” Cohen said.

Trump has narrowed the field for secretary of state to four candidates, including the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, who attacked Trump throughout the 2016 campaign but spoke glowingly of the president-elect after having dinner with him earlier this week.

“There was actually good chemistry,” Trump said on Fox.</s>Zhang Baohui is Professor of Political Science and Director of Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He is the author of China's Assertive Nuclear Posture: State Security in an Anarchic International Order (Routledge 2015). The opinions expressed here are solely his.

Hong Kong (CNN) US President-elect Donald Trump shocked many by his admission on Twitter that he had talked to Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.

The telephone exchange between the two breaks a long-standing tradition that had governed US-Taiwan relations for many decades and raised legitimate speculation about its implications for the future of China-US and Taiwan-US relations.

This phone call may not necessarily imply significant changes in the above relations under a Trump presidency.

According to Trump's Twitter message, it was Tsai who initiated the phone call. In fact, his message highlighted the fact by capitalizing Tsai "CALLED ME" to offer her congratulations.

Trump could be signaling to the world that people should not read too much into this telephone call. The audience of his message could include Beijing.

The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!

Based on the initial reaction by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, it seems that Beijing has opted for a low-key response. Wang instead criticized Taiwan for playing "dirty tricks" to manipulate Taipei-Washington relations.

Nonetheless, this phone call may offer important clues about how Trump may handle foreign policy decisions.

It seems to vindicate the widespread expectations that he will not be able to handle sensitive issues with diplomatic savvy.

Both cases imply that the world may need to get used to a less disciplined US president who is not bounded, or doesn't want to be bounded, by traditional diplomatic rules and norms that would have constrained another US president.

Indeed, less than one hour after his initial Twitter message, Trump sent another message showing his objection to the established rules and norms: "Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

The conclusion here is that Trump's phone call with Tsai Ing-wen may not foretell major shifts in US relations with China and Taiwan.

It was more likely a reflection of Trump's personality and suggests that his presidency may be fraught with unintended diplomatic consequences triggered by his impulsive actions and words.

This scenario does not bode well for US-China relations, which have seen rising tension in the recent years.

Indeed, lack of strategic mistrust between them is driving their relationship in the direction of a new Cold War.

In this context, the worst thing that may happen involve actions or words by either party that further amplify their mutual strategic mistrust.

Trump therefore needs to learn to become a more disciplined and diplomatic savvy president when it comes to the highly sensitive trilateral relations between Beijing, Taipei and Washington.

The Taiwan Strait remains one of the most dangerous flashpoints in East Asia.

The revisionist inclination of a DPP government poses threat to the stability of both Beijing-Taipei relations and Beijing Washington relations.

In this context, the Trump administration should avoid sending the wrong signals to Tsai's government as that would only embolden her to pursue more revisionist policies, which will in turn heighten the prospect of direct military conflict between China and the United States.

War in the western Pacific is the last thing that Beijing and Washington wants to see.

It is therefore in the interest of the United States to continue to restrain Taiwan's revisionist tendency while simultaneously deterring Beijing from unilaterally changing the status quo by force.</s>Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen had called U.S. president-elect Donald Trump seeking to strengthen bilateral interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan.

The U.S President-elect Donald Trump signalled a potential rupture in the country’s China policy by holding a telephone conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday. He is the first American President or President-elect to talk to a Taiwanese President since 1979, when the U.S cut off diplomatic ties with the island while getting closer to China. Recognising Taiwan as a part of China is a fundamental principle of the U.S – China relations and Mr. Trump’s engagement with the Taiwanese leader drew strong reactions from Beijing.

During the campaign Mr. Trump repeatedly called China a “currency manipulator” and threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. He also promised to remain “unpredictable” in international affairs. His engagement with a territory that China considers its own is in sharp contrast with Barack Obama, who in 2009 became the first American President to visit China in the first year in office.

While Mr. Trump stood his ground and defended his decision, the White House said there was no change in the U.S position.

“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,” a release from the presidential transition team said on Friday afternoon, setting off alarm bells in many capitals. Mr. Trump then said on twitter: "The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!" When issue began dominating the evening news cycle in America, he tweeted again: "Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.” The U.S has sold arms worth $ 12 billion to Taiwan in three decades, though it is not recognised as a sovereign country.

China urged the U.S to “handle issues related to Taiwan” carefully. “We have noticed relevant reports and lodged solemn representation with the relevant side in the United States. I must point out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory ... The 'one China' principle is the political foundation of China-US relations. We urge the relevant side in the US to adhere to the 'one China' policy, abide by the pledges in the three joint China-US communiques, and handle issues related to Taiwan carefully and properly to avoid causing unnecessary interference to the overall China-U.S. relationship,” said a statement Saturday from China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

Ned Price, spokesman for the US National Security Council said there was no change to “our longstanding policy on cross-Strait issues.” "We remain firmly committed to our 'one China' policy based on the three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act. Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations," he said in a statement.

Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, said the President-elect was well aware of the existing U.S policy, indicating that it is within his power to alter it.

Mr. Obama’s initial warming up to China led some scholars to speculate on the possible emergence of a Group of Two, or G-2 leadership in the world. The President’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ policy and the push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal increased tensions between the countries subsequently. President Xi Jinping proposed in 2015 a “new type of great power relations,” and now, China is trying to make sense of Mr.Trump’s policy toward it. Henry Kissinger, who reset the U.S relations with China in the 1970s, is also advising Mr. Trump. The 93-old Kissinger was in Beijing this week, meeting the top leadership. “We are now in a key moment. We on the Chinese side are watching the situation very closely,” President Xi said on Friday, appearing with Mr. Kissinger. “Dr. Kissinger, I am all ears to what you have to say about the current world situation and the future growth of China-U.S. relations," he said. What transpired between the Chinese leadership and Mr. Kissinger remains unclear.</s>With a Twitter post Friday evening, the business mogul declared the call was of a congratulatory nature and came directly from President Tsai Ing-wen.

Trump's transition team backed up the President-elect's tweet, adding that "during the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties exists between Taiwan and the United States."

Regardless of the nature of the call, it's an act that bucks normal diplomatic protocol, and in the eyes of critics, could pose a dangerous threat to the United States.

Appearing on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront," former US Ambassador Christopher Hill noted just how rare Trump's decision was.

"Eight years during the Reagan administration, this (a call between US and Taiwanese leaders) never happened. Four years during the Bush Senior administration, this never happened. Eight years of Clinton, eight years of George W. Bush and eight years of Obama," said Hill, who served as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs under Bush 43. Donald Trump risks showdown with China after call with Taiwan Trump's conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen marks the first publicly reported call between a U.S. President or President-elect, and a Taiwanese leader, since 1979, and Hill said it represents a scary tendency to act without a proper understanding of diplomacy. "This is a huge mistake...we don't need this." - Ambassador Christopher Hill on #Trump's call w Taiwan's president https://t.co/YRTKy4k7H4 — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) December 3, 2016 "It was an example of what is all too often happening now with this incoming administration, this tendency to wing it," he told Burnett. "What I'm concerned about is that rather than acknowledge a mistake, they will double down on it." Still more than a month away from Trump's inauguration, Hill said he believes the nation is likely to be subjected to a wide swath of future instances of rash decision-making. "This is not going to be the last of these kind of things. So, things need to get cleaned up and cleaned up in a hurry in Washington," said Hill. In 1979, the United States acknowledged a set of of protocols formally known as the "One China Policy," a belief system that features Taiwan as part of China. There exists rampant concern that Trump's call with Taiwan will enrage China, and fracture relations between the nations. By Friday night, China had already reached out to the Obama administration. White House officials declined to comment on diplomatic discussions.
The People's Republic of China lodges a complaint with the United States after President-elect of the United States Donald Trump speaks with President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen. The PRC and the United States view Taiwan as a breakaway province.