On Sunday in an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump had signaled that the U.S. commitment to the policy that undergirds its relationship with China should be up for negotiation. | AP Photo Beijing 'seriously concerned' about Trump's comments on One China policy

China’s Foreign Ministry is “seriously concerned” about President-elect Donald Trump’s statement Sunday questioning the U.S. commitment to respecting of Beijing’s “One China” policy.

“We are seriously concerned about it. The Taiwan question has a bearing on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is one of China’s core interests,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a briefing in Beijing on Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal.


On Sunday in an interview with Fox News, Trump had signaled that the U.S. commitment to the policy that undergirds its relationship with China should be up for negotiation: “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,” he said.

That statement came after Trump broke with decades of diplomatic tradition by recently speaking with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on the phone at the risk of disrupting relations with China. The U.S. ceased recognizing the self-governed, democratic island in the 1970s, when it opened diplomatic relations with China, which still considers Taiwan a province.

The phone call prompted concerns from critics, some of whom wondered if Trump fully understood its implications, while others worried that it signaled a sudden change in U.S. foreign policy. Longtime American supporters of Taiwan, for their part, praised the call.

The White House signaled concern Monday with Trump's willingness to put the longstanding U.S. commitment to the "One China" policy up for discussion, raising a new objection: that such a move would make Taiwan a "bargaining chip."

"The Obama administration does not view Taiwan, and our relationship with Taiwan, as a bargaining chip," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at the daily press briefing.

"Taiwan is not a source of leverage; it is a close partner of the United States," Earnest continued. "Taiwan is the ninth largest trading partner of the United States and bargaining that away is not something this administration believes is in our best interest."