While issues in bilateral economic relations and trade are negotiable, the one-China policy is not. The Trump administration should carefully sum up the lessons of previous administrations on the Taiwan question and minimize its impact on overall China-US relations so that steady progress can be made, especially in economic relations and trade, which bring tangible benefits to both sides.

If the DPP continues to create obstacles for cross-straits relations out of its selfish partisan interests, there is ample reason for us to feel concerned about the state of mainland-Taiwan relations in the next three years.

As an experienced businessman, Trump may not use words as thoughtfully as a typical politician, which sometimes is his strength rather than weakness. Words can be used as a tool in negotiations in different ways. The real question will be: How steadfast is his word when making deals?

The swarm approach – by hitting Beijing on multiple issues in at once in a flurry – seems to be calculated upon Trump’s own business approach. This projects that Trump’s “leverage” over Beijing would compel painful concessions from China on core issues because of its fear over Washington’s scorn and threats.

For more than four decades, China-US relations have been guided by the foundation enshrined in the Joint Communique. The ‘no conflict, no confrontation’ principle advocated by China remains the bottom line of bilateral relations, and the lynchpin is the one-China policy. With China’s growth and prosperity today, there is every reason to be confident in the future of China-US relations.

So where is the pivot? No, not the Obama Administration’s Asian pivot. I’m speaking of another pivot. This one was to occur when candidate Trump transformed from candidate to President-elect and then President.

Donald Trump is a new type of political phenomena that has caught the world off guard. His unpredictability and lack of experience set the stage for a perfect storm of wild-card events that will almost certainly be an early theme during his presidency. While it is China’s decision how it reacts to Trump, tact and precision will be Beijing’s greatest defense in not only ensuring that relations with the U.S. do not deteriorate further, but in safeguarding key aspects of the current international system.

As a new president assessing old policy, Mr. Trump has every right to take a fresh look at One-China, review the U.S.’s stance towards Taiwan, and make changes he sees fit. However, making Taiwan a bargaining chip in any deal with China is not the way to go about it. In fact, it showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the One-China issue on the part of Trump’s transition team.

Trump’s commitment to honor the one-China policy opens the door for discussions on many ways to develop the world’s most important bilateral relationship, and to seek constructive approaches to resolve each other’s major concerns.