The incoming U.S. administration’s tough talk against China has set the stage for showdowns on everything from security to trade and cyberspace, but contradictory signals are sowing uncertainty over how far President-elect Donald Trump is prepared to go in confronting Beijing.
Highlighting the contested South China Sea as a potential flashpoint, Trump’s Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson threw out an explosive challenge to Beijing on Wednesday by calling for it be denied access to artificial islands it is building in the strategic waterway.
A Trump transition adviser told Reuters that Tillerson, Trump’s pick to be America's top diplomat, did not mean to suggest the new administration would impose a naval blockade, which would risk armed confrontation with China, something the new administration was not seeking.
In a related development, Reuters reports that two influential Chinese newspapers on Monday warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that Beijing will "take off the gloves" and Taiwan may be scarified if he continues to provoke Beijing over the self-ruled island once he sworn in on Jan. 20.
The development follows an earlier report that China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that its "One China" principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-U.S. relations, and urged "relevant parties" in the United States to recognize the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue.
