Story highlights Donald Trump's phone call with Taiwan was a major break in protocol, writes Peter Moody

Moody: It is too soon to say whether it means a sea change in US policy

Peter Moody, an emeritus political science professor at Notre Dame, specializes in Chinese politics. He's the author of several books including "Conservative Thought in Contemporary China," "Tradition and Modernization in China and Japan" and "Political Change in Taiwan." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) The 10-minute conversation between US President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen was a major break in the accepted protocol -- something that evidently does not much bother Mr. Trump. It is, of course, too soon to guess whether it was a fluke or a portent of a sea change in American policy.

When the Communists won power on the mainland in 1949 their defeated Nationalist foes retreated to the island of Taiwan, either to go down in a last stand or to "recover the mainland." The Communists, for their part, determined to "liberate Taiwan."

Both sides considered the standoff to be part of a continued civil war. Both claimed legitimate rule over all of China, with Taiwan merely a province of China. The one thing both agreed on was that Taiwan was inextricably part of China, and was not and could not be an independent country.

Until the late 1980s the Nationalists ruled Taiwan as a police state. Danger of communist subversion served to rationalize the dictatorship, although in practice the repression was directed at least as much against agitation for Taiwan independence.

Since the 1980s the island has evolved into a liberal democracy. Advocacy of independence, once considered treason, has become an acceptable political stance. Since 2000, the Nationalist party has alternated in the presidency with the Democratic Progressive Party, whose program in principle calls for independence.

Read More