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One-China policy "not negotiable": Obama aide

Xinhua, January 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

A top aide to U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday reiterated the stance of the current administration that the One-China policy is "not negotiable," slamming any effort to reopen the issue as "dangerous."

"It's not negotiable in the sense that our entire relationship with China is founded upon the One-China policy. That was a basis for the Shanghai Communique and the reestablishment of diplomatic relations," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor, said at a briefing in Washington.

Rhodes called the One-China policy "an agreement we reached with the biggest country in the world" and "the framework under which we do everything."

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that the One-China policy is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

In response to Trump's remarks, China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that the One-China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is non-negotiable."

At Tuesday's briefing, Rhodes warned the upcoming U.S. administration against seeking a new approach to the issue, calling such potential move "dangerous" and "destabilizing".

"It's dangerous. The risk of escalation in the Taiwan Strait is just a flashpoint the world does not need right now. The United States certainly doesn't," Rhodes said.

The senior foreign policy aide to Obama added that he does not see any benefit to the U.S. in changing the long-standing policy.

"China is not going to negotiate anything, so I am not sure what is accomplished by pursuing an approach where you seek to reopen it," he said. "Getting into the space of something like Taiwan just risks destabilizing that relationship without any potential benefit that I can foresee." Endit