The Chinese government has warned that it's "seriously concerned" after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump questioned whether his country should keep its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of "one China."
Trump has signaled a willingness to confront Beijing, and his latest comments in an interview with Fox News suggested that he won't hesitate to anger China until the country comes to the bargaining table on trade and North Korea.
China's response was measured but clear: co-operation with the U.S. "would be out of the question" if Trump doesn't adhere to the "one China" policy -- a cornerstone of bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in the 1970s.
The Global Times newspaper, a state-sanctioned tabloid, went much further in its criticism of Trump, in a Monday editorial, it described the President-elect as a "child" ignorant of foreign policy and ruled out negotiations on the "one China" issue.
The editorial warned that Trump, because of his "lack of hands-on experience," was liable to be influenced and controlled by hardliners near him, and added that if Trump ditched the "one China" policy, it would spark "a real crisis."
The Communist government in Beijing views Taiwan as a "renegade province," since Chinese nationalists fled there and established a government after losing the civil war in 1949.
Both governments -- officially the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (ROC) -- claim to be the legitimate ruler of all of China, but the ROC effectively controls only Taiwan and a few other small islands.
