Why Won't Trump Talk To Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen?

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would consult Chinese President Xi Jinping before having a phone call with Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai could speak with Trump again over the phone, she suggested in an interview with Reuters, Thursday

In a White House interview, Trump said that he would not want to create problems in the U.S.-China relations as the independent status of Taiwan has been the most sensitive issue between Beijing and Washington.

“Look, my problem is I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi. I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation,” Trump told Reuters, referring to the recent efforts of Beijing in helping the United States to keep a check on North Korea and put pressure on them to stop its missile and nuclear tests.

“So I wouldn’t want to be causing difficulty right now for him,” Trump added. “I think he’s doing an amazing job as a leader and I wouldn’t want to do anything that comes in the way of that. So I would certainly want to speak to him first.”

Tsai said during an interview with Reuters earlier, Thursday that she was ready to have another phone call with the U.S. president. The pair had spoken earlier over the phone in December when Trump received a 10-minute long congratulatory call from the Taiwanese leader for being elected as the then president-elect.

“We don’t exclude the opportunity to call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the U.S. government’s consideration of regional affairs," Tsai told Reuters.

Beijing was angered by Trump's December call and it resulted in tensions between U.S. and China. Taiwan has been an extremely sensitive issue for Beijing as they want it to be a part of China. Beijing fears that any contacts between the independent province of Taiwan and other world leaders would grant it sovereignty. Taiwan has been independently and democratically ruled since 1949 and they do not want an accession to autocratic China.

Beijing had filed an official complaint after the phone call. "We have noticed relevant reports and lodged solemn representation with the relevant side in the United States," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had said then, according to CNN.

"I must point out that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory ... The 'one China' principle is the political foundation of China-US relations. We urge the relevant side in the US to adhere to the 'one China' policy, abide by the pledges in the three joint China-US communiques, and handle issues related to Taiwan carefully and properly to avoid causing unnecessary interference to the overall China-U.S. relationship,” Geng Shuang added.

With the phone call in December, Trump cast a doubt on the United States’ support for Beijing’s “One China” policy that claims Taiwan is a part of China.

However, Trump ruled out the possibility when he promised to honor the policy and hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month.

Trump’s decision to dismiss the phone call with the Taiwanese president highlights the importance of the support from China in dealing with North Korea, which has become a major national security problem since Trump took office in January this year.