Trump ups US ante on Taiwan, but China has leverage too

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In this Dec. 9, 2016, photo, President-elect Donald Trump smiles during a rally at DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. Trump sounds ready to use U.S. policy toward Taiwan as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from China, but both of the world powers could play at that game. China’s rising economic and military clout means its communist leadership has leverage over Washington too. Beijing could erect more obstacles for U.S. companies working in China. It could ramp up tensions in the seas of East Asia. And if differences spike over Taiwan, the Trump administration could face tough choices on whether to send U.S. forces to defend the island that China regards as part of its territory.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump sounds ready to use U.S. policy toward Taiwan as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from China, but both of the world powers could play at that game.

China’s rising economic and military clout means its communist leadership has leverage over Washington too. Beijing could erect more obstacles for U.S. companies working in China. It could ramp up tensions in the seas of East Asia. And if differences spike over Taiwan, the Trump administration could face tough choices on whether to send U.S. forces to defend the island that China regards as part of its territory.

Trump said Sunday that he didn’t feel “bound” by the so-called one-China policy that has prevailed since the U.S. shifted diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.

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