<div>US President-elect Donald Trump today questioned the relevance of continuing the "One-China" policy if Beijing refuses to make any concessions on trade, making it clear that the communist nation can't "dictate" him.<br /><br />The US since 1979 has respected China's stance on Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway province. But Trump said without concessions from China, he did not see why it should continue.<br /><br />"I fully understand the One-China policy. But I don't know why we have to be bound by a One-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," Trump told Fox News.<br /><br />"We are being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn't be doing," he said.<br /><br />"Frankly, they're not helping us at all with North Korea. You have North Korea, you have <br />nuclear weapons, and China could solve that problem. And they're not helping us at all. So, I don't want China dictating to me," he said.<br /><br />Responding to a question on outrage in China over him receiving a congratulatory phone call from the president of Taiwan, he defended the conversation with Tsai Ing-wen.<br /><br />"This was a call put into me. I didn't make the call. And it was a call, very short call, saying, "Congratulations, sir, on the victory. It was a very nice call. Short," he said.<br /><br />"Why should some other nation be able to say, I can't take a call? I think it would have been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it," Trump said.<br /><br />Trump's decision to take the phone call earlier this month was a break from US diplomatic tradition and prompted a formal protest from Beijing. No US president or president-elect had spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader for decades before that.<br /><br />Trump has previously criticised China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea in a series of tweets.<br /></div>
<div>US President-elect Donald Trump today questioned the relevance of continuing the "One-China" policy if Beijing refuses to make any concessions on trade, making it clear that the communist nation can't "dictate" him.<br /><br />The US since 1979 has respected China's stance on Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway province. But Trump said without concessions from China, he did not see why it should continue.<br /><br />"I fully understand the One-China policy. But I don't know why we have to be bound by a One-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," Trump told Fox News.<br /><br />"We are being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don't tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn't be doing," he said.<br /><br />"Frankly, they're not helping us at all with North Korea. You have North Korea, you have <br />nuclear weapons, and China could solve that problem. And they're not helping us at all. So, I don't want China dictating to me," he said.<br /><br />Responding to a question on outrage in China over him receiving a congratulatory phone call from the president of Taiwan, he defended the conversation with Tsai Ing-wen.<br /><br />"This was a call put into me. I didn't make the call. And it was a call, very short call, saying, "Congratulations, sir, on the victory. It was a very nice call. Short," he said.<br /><br />"Why should some other nation be able to say, I can't take a call? I think it would have been very disrespectful, to be honest with you, not taking it," Trump said.<br /><br />Trump's decision to take the phone call earlier this month was a break from US diplomatic tradition and prompted a formal protest from Beijing. No US president or president-elect had spoken directly to a Taiwanese leader for decades before that.<br /><br />Trump has previously criticised China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea in a series of tweets.<br /></div>