Trump lashes out at China in Twitter outburst

Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets criticising China, accusing it of keeping its currency artificially low and of military posturing in the South China Sea.

“Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the US doesn’t tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea?” he asked. “I don’t think so!”

In response to the tweets, without directly referring to them, China’s foreign ministry said the US and China have long had “highly mutually beneficial relations” and that both sides should “stick to basic principles” of the relationship.

Trump’s fresh swipe at China comes just two days after he sparked controversy by having a phonecall with Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen, a move that prompted China to lodge a diplomatic complaint against the US.

The 10-minute phone call with Tsai Ing-wen was the first by a US president or president-elect since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China”.

The White House has said that the phone call did not signal a shift in the “One China” policy stance, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence downplayed it as a “tempest in a teapot” and “a moment of courtesy”.