U.S. President-elect Donald Trump suggested he is open to a shift in his country's long-held position that Taiwan is part of "one China," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, a remark which could infuriate the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping.

"Everything is under negotiation including one China," Trump said in an interview published in the paper's online edition.

Beijing has repeatedly warned Trump against making changes to the "one-China" policy which it sees as the political foundation for the development of bilateral ties.

Since Washington established diplomatic ties with China and severed relations with Taipei in 1979, subsequent U.S. administrations have recognized Beijing as representing China under the "one-China" policy. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Breaking protocol, Trump, after being elected as president in November, spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen by phone on Dec. 2. This was believed to be the first conversation between a U.S. president or president-elect and a Taiwanese leader since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

Trump was quoted as saying in the WSJ interview, "We sold them (Taiwan) $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we're not allowed to accept a phone call. First of all it would have been very rude not to accept the phone call."

He also reiterated his displeasure with China's currency practices, saying, "Instead of saying, 'We're devaluating our currency,' they say, 'Oh, our currency is dropping.' It's not dropping. They're doing it on purpose."

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Trump-open-to-idea-of-shift-in-US-one-China-policy-WSJ

Jack of all, master of none.

See you in 4 years...