Trump’s talk with Taiwan leader ‘just a call,’ not a sign of policy shift

Donald Trump senior adviser KellyAnne Conway on Sunday defended the president-elect’s decision to take a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan’s president, saying Trump is routinely briefed on international intelligence reports and is not signaling plans to change U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s just a phone call,” Conway, a Trump transition team adviser, told “Fox News Sunday.” “President-elect Trump is not out there making policy or policy prescriptions.”

Trump, a first-time elected official with no official foreign policy experience, talked Friday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking with decades-long diplomatic tradition.

Washington has pursued a so-called “One China” policy since 1979, when it shifted diplomatic recognition of China from the government in Taiwan to the communist government on the mainland.

Under that policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as representing China but retains unofficial ties with Taiwan.

China on Saturday filed a diplomatic protest about the call, which it blamed on Taiwan.

Conway said Trump is “fully aware of the One China policy” and that he is routinely briefed by foreign policy and military experts, amid reports he doesn’t take daily State Department briefings.

And she accused the media of “cherry picking” about who has called Trump, a Republican, to congratulate him on his upset win over 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

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