Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Today, President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone to Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. That breaks nearly four decades of diplomatic protocol and threatens to upset U.S. relations with China. NPR's Rob Schmitz joins us to talk about this. Hi, Rob. ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hi, Ari. SHAPIRO: Donald Trump has had so many telephone conversations with world leaders. Explain why this one with the leader of Taiwan is so much more fraught. SCHMITZ: Well, this is really unprecedented. China has long considered Taiwan a renegade province, and no U.S. president is believed to have spoken to a Taiwanese leader since 1979. That was when the United States formally severed diplomatic ties to the island after recognizing the People's Republic of China. This is what's known as the one-China policy. So for a president-elect to speak directly to the president of Taiwan is unprecedented. And this will, you know, threaten to harm China-U.S.
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