Obama Apologizes to China for Trump While China Threatens to Arm US Enemies

One of the more outrageous acts Mr. Obama has committed on a repeated basis has been making apologies for America.  A man who has such a negative opinion of his country shouldn’t be its leader.  And to travel the globe, humiliating his country, only makes matters worse.

It is also not the place for the outgoing president to attempt to set policy for his successor.  That said, Mr. Obama has managed to combine both an apology and an attempt to set policy for Trump all in one visit.

The White House rushed in Monday to reassure China that the U.S. will uphold the “one China” policy and will not use Taiwan as leverage for negotiations, even as the incoming administration seems increasingly likely to adjust or suspend that policy.

President-elect Donald Trump surprised and infuriated China by breaking away from several decades of diplomatic practice and protocol and accepting a Dec. 2 phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Trump has since defended his actions multiple times in the face of numerous complaints from Beijing and domestic critics.

This is none of Mr. Obama’s business.  Donald Trump will be responsible for the diplomatic relations he maintains with other nations, and for Obama and his administration to interfere is completely out of line.  Obama’s actions constitute deliberate interference as Trump formulates his foreign policy.

Trump, for his part, has put several issues in play that will be part of his negotiations with China once he becomes president.

“I don’t want China dictating to me,” Trump said Sunday during an interview with Fox News. “Why should some other nation be able to say I can’t take a call?”

“I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a ‘one China’ policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade,” Trump commented.

His comment suggests that he might be interested in using one of China’s “core interests” as leverage.

“We’re being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don’t tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn’t be doing, and frankly with not helping us at all with North Korea,” Trump added.

And this is China, a nation whose size and influence demand carefully formulated policy.  Not the sort of nonsense spewed forth from a weak president in the waning days of his administration.  So it was especially egregious when the Obama administration contradicted Trump’s comments.

The White House has walked back Trump’s actions and statements regarding Taiwan twice following outbursts from China.

“There is no change to our long-standing policy on cross-Strait issues,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said last Monday. “We remain firmly committed to our ‘one China’ policy based on the three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.”

Underscoring the importance of all of this is China’s response to Mr. Trump, published through what is, no doubt, officially controlled media.

Chinese media took an even more aggressive stance.

“If Trump abandons the ‘one China’ policy, is there any need for China to be America’s partner in most international affairs? If the U.S. openly supports ‘Taiwan independence,’ or overtly sells weapons to Taiwan more, is there any need for Beijing to resist all kinds of forces hostile to the U.S.?” the Global Times argued, “Why can’t we openly support them, or secretly supply weapons to them?”

Would Mr. Obama deliberately disrupt international relationships in an attempt to sabotage Donald Trump?  Of course.  And that’s why this transition can’t happen too soon.

Source:  Daily Caller

Source:  Daily Caller