China warns Trump's Taiwan gambit may leave them with "no choice but to take off the gloves"

Donald Trump is creating havoc with our European alliances by virtue of his radical diplomatic shift that favors Russia, and stands to leave the United States isolated and much less safe.

His abrupt departure from the “One China” policy, followed by a continuing, reckless escalation of such provocations, has also risked the delicate relationship with China that U.S. Presidents and diplomats have carefully built over decades.

The New York Times reports (emphasis original):

An unusually strongly worded editorial in the state-run China Daily said on Monday that Mr. Trump was “playing with fire with his Taiwan game.”

“If Trump is determined to use this gambit on taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves,” the newspaper said.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Mr. Trump on Monday that any effort to undermine the policy could backfire.

“If anyone attempts to damage the One China principle, or if they are under the illusion they can use this as a bargaining chip, they will be opposed by the Chinese government and people. In the end, it will be like lifting a rock to drop it on one’s own feet.” — Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman.

Trump’s belligerence toward China could incite a trade war that would profoundly affect the U.S. economy.

On Tuesday, China’s President Xi Jinping “told the World Economic Forum that there are no winners when nations engage in a trade war,” while Trump advisor Anthony Scaramucci told the BBC “that if China chose to retaliate when the Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports, it would cost them ‘way more’ than it would cost the U.S.”

This sort of belligerence is an antithesis of the very diplomacy that has been demonstrably effective in keeping the United States safe.

Though she did not even address Trump’s disposition toward China among her many criticisms of the president-elect, Rep. Maxine Waters was absolutely right to call him “a danger.”

He may, as many people have observed, thrive in chaos. We will not.