Donald Trump continues to stomp his feet at China, in defence of his controversial phone call with Taiwan two weeks ago.
On a Fox News Sundaysegment aired on Sunday in the U.S., the president-elect said he isn't sure his future administration will continue to uphold 40 years of diplomatic tradition with China and Taiwan, where the U.S. only recognises Beijing as China's representative.
He was responding to Fox News host Chris Wallace, who asked him why he broke with U.S. policy and took the call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
SEE ALSO: Trump started a Twitter war with China, and it worked: China's madChina insists that Taiwan is a breakaway state, and considers it part of "one China." The U.S. has not recognised Taiwan officially as a nation since 1979-- a measure to stabilise China-Taiwan relations.
"You are setting markers for foreign countries...and you're not even in office yet," said Wallace during the aired segment.
In response, Trump said:
"I fully understand the 'one China' policy, but I don't know why we have to bound by a 'one China' policy, unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.
"I don't want China dictating to me. And this was a call put into me, I didn't make the call, and it was a call, very short call, saying 'Congratulations Sir on the victory.'
It was a very nice call. Short. And why should some other nation be able to say I can't take a call."
China's response to that wasn't subtle. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, told reporters on Monday morning that it was "extremely concerned" with Trump's remarks.
On Monday morning local time, the English language Chinese newspaper (and state mouthpiece) Global Timespublished an op-ed calling Trump "immature."
A "novice" at international relations
It went on to quote an academic, who said Trump is a "novice" at handling international relations.
"His knowledge about Sino-US relations, particularly the Taiwan question, is very superficial, which gives him the nerve to say whatever he likes," said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.
Trump's latest remarks also appear to contradict the official White House statement from a week ago, where spokesperson Josh Earnest reassured Beijing that the U.S. intends to stick to its commitment of respecting China's stance on Taiwan.
Clips of Trump's Fox Newsinterview circulated quickly on social media. One clip was viewed 1.8 million times in half a day, on the streaming video site Miaopai.
"I'm starting to understand the negative comments I see about Trump," said one of the users.
"The White House must be really busy always helping to save Trump's ass," said another.
Chinese banner makers with pro-Trump merchandise before the U.S. elections. Credit: Lv bin/Imaginechina Despite Trump's anti-China rhetoric on the campaign trail, his election win initially won quite a bit of support from Chinese netizens, because his rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, has often been portrayed as bad for China.
Compared with Clinton, Trump was largely unknown in China. Fake news stories circulated with rumors that he was even born in the Sichuan province, and people on Weibo praised his brash and unorthodox style.
A video of Ivanka Trump's daughter Arabella reciting a famous Chinese poem also went viral.
But all that seems to have taken a tumble in the past two weeks since Trump started naming China directly.
"Trump's popularity just disappeared overnight," said a Weibo poster.
Chinese fan websites for Donald Trump on Weibo in May this year. Credit: AP Meanwhile, a popular and previously active Trump fan account on Weibo is now noticeably quiet. Until Nov. 28, it had made 680 posts, many translating and repeating Trump's speeches on the campaign trail. It also celebrated his win with a teary emoji.
Another Trump fan account has also stopped posting in the past week, and hasn't mentioned Taiwan. Its most recent post was of Trump's son, Barron, looking tired as he waited for the late night results of his father's win.
