Donald
Trump accuses China of 'unpresidented' act over US navy drone
President-elect
makes spelling error in belligerent early morning tweet
Martin Pengelly and
agencies
@MartinPengelly
Sunday 18 December
2016 01.43 GMT
China says ‘hyping
up’ of issue is not helpful but agrees return of vehicle
President-elect
Donald Trump has risked further inflaming US relations with China,
after he used Twitter on Saturday to accuse China of an
“unpresidented [sic] act” in its seizing of an unmanned American
submarine this week.
“China steals
United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it
out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act,” Trump
said, misspelling “unprecedented”.
The tweet was later
reissued with the correct spelling of “unprecedented”. The tweet
containing the error was deleted.
His message –
itself without precedent given his status as a president-elect
commenting on an international incident before assuming power – was
likely to worsen fears of increased US-China tensions under his
presidency that have grown over his rhetoric on trade and policy
towards Taiwan.
Hours later, Trump
suggested the US tell China it no longer wants its property returned.
Trump’s initial
tweet was issued shortly after China’s foreign ministry said it was
negotiating with the US over the vehicle, a “glider” used to
collect unclassified scientific data.
A Pentagon spokesman
said it was being operated by civilian contractors when it was seized
on Thursday in international waters, about 57 miles north-west of
Subic Bay, near the Philippines, in the South China Sea.
The unmanned vehicle
was deployed by the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic and surveillance
ship. A diplomatic complaint was issued by the US after its seizure,
and its return demanded.
The area in which
the submarine was taken is claimed by China virtually in its
entirety. China has been building islands, and this week it was
reported to have installed “significant” weaponry on them –
including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems.
On Saturday, the
Chinese foreign ministry said that American “hyping up” was not
conducive to a smooth resolution of an incident that began when a
Chinese naval vessel discovered a piece of “unidentified equipment”
and checked it to prevent any navigational safety issues, before
discovering it was a US drone.
“China decided to
return it to the US side in an appropriate manner, and China and the
US have all along been in communication about it,” a statement on
the ministry website said.
“During this
process, the US side’s unilateral and open hyping up is
inappropriate, and is not beneficial to the smooth resolution of this
issue. We express regret at this.”
Pentagon spokesman
Peter Cook later said in a statement: “Through direct engagement
with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the
Chinese will return the UUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] to the
United States.”
On Friday, in a
press conference at the White House, Barack Obama cautioned Trump
against allowing relations with China to slip into “full conflict
mode”.
Trump took a
congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese president earlier this
month, breaking with nearly 40 years of US foreign policy orthodoxy,
and then used a Fox News interview to question US “one China”
policy on Taiwan, a breakaway island state which is not recognised by
Beijing.
“The idea of ‘one
China’ is at the heart of their conception as a nation,” Obama
said, “and so if you are going to upend this understanding, you
have to have thought through what are the consequences.
“Because the
Chinese will not treat that the way they will treat some other
issues. They won’t even treat it the way they treat issues around
the South China Sea, where we have had a lot of tensions. This goes
to the core of how they see themselves and their reaction on this
issue could end up being very significant.”
On Thursday, Bonnie
Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies, told the Guardian the seizure of
the drone looked “like signalling from the Chinese in response to
Trump’s Taiwan call”.
“It is in China’s
interest to send signals before Trump is inaugurated,” she said,
“so that he gets the message and [will] be more restrained once he
is office.”
Observers have
suggested that both during the presidential campaign – in which
Trump offered belligerent rhetoric against China over trade – and
after his election victory, he has used outlandish statements on
Twitter as a means of distraction when under pressure from the media
and opponents.
He is currently
facing the belief of the White House, the CIA, the FBI and other
intelligence agencies that Russia sought to influence the election in
his favour – claims he has rejected and ridiculed – and questions
about his business holdings and conflicts of interest that will arise
when he takes office.
Trump has also
failed to stage a press conference since winning the election,
instead embarking on a “thank you” tour of rallies in states
which voted for him.
The electoral
college, in which Trump beat Hillary Clinton 306-232 despite losing
the popular vote by more than 2.8m ballots, meets on Monday to decide
the election victor.
Some electors have
indicated an intention not to vote for Trump, but not the 38
Republican electors it would take to send the decision to the House
of Representatives.
Also on Saturday
morning, Trump’s transition team released a statement announcing
the nomination of the South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney, a
budget “hawk” who has advocated deep federal spending cuts, as
director of the Office of Management and Budget.
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