Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump's telephonic conversation with the Taiwanese President which evoked a strong protest from China was a "courtesy call", Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Sunday as he assured them there will not be a change from the "One China Policy".
"Well, we'll deal with policy after January the 20th.
This was a courtesy call," Pence told ABC News in an interview when asked about a Trump Administration's "One China Policy" in view of the phone call between Trump and the Taiwanese President.
Trump's move to talk with Tsai Ing-wenz had infuriated China.
"That was nothing more than taking a courtesy call of congratulations from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan," Pence said.
He said after winning the November 8 general elections, Trump has talked to more than 50 world leaders and he himself has spoken to several dozen others.
He slammed those criticising Trump for this.
"It is a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba and be hailed as a hero for doing it," he said.
"President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it's become something of a controversy, because I think the American people appreciate the fact that our President-Elect is taking calls from and reaching out to the world and preparing on day one to lead America on the world stage," Pence said.
Responding to a question, Pence said Trump was very clear during the course of the campaign that the US has just been losing to China far too long economically.
"The time has come, the American people have elected a president who, not just with regard to China, but with other countries around the world, and even in our hemisphere, that we're going to put American workers and American jobs first and we're going to have a president that makes sure we have trade deals and we advance economic policies on the world stage that accomplish that," he said.
During the election campaign, Trump had said that he would declare China a currency manipulator on day one of his presidency.
"He said that over the course of the campaign. And the truth of the matter is a lot is going to change in America's economic policies to just with regard to China, but with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement, (as well)," he said.
The US has been losing too much in jobs and economic growth on the world stage, he said.
China considers Taiwan as part of its own territory awaiting reunification under Beijing's rule.
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