Trump Hits Back At China After Beijing Protests Over His Phone Call With Taiwan President

The US President-elect has attacked China after he was criticised by Beijing over his recent telephone conversation with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.

"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 US doesn't tax them)," Trump said in his tweet on Sunday.

He tweeted if Beijing asked the US before building "a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!”

Tsai telephoned Trump on 2 December to congratulate him on his election success that subsequently provoked a formal protest from the Chinese government and raised high expectations in Taiwan. That call broke almost four decades protocol in the sensitive US foreign policy towards China.

It forced the White House to step up to remind that the only Chinese government that Washington has accepted since 1979 is that of Beijing. Beijing urged Washington to maintain its commitment to the principle of the "one-China" policy and asked it to handle issues related to Taiwan "cautiously and properly" in order to avoid "unnecessary interference"