Reince Priebus, incoming chief of staff to President-elect Trump, said on Sunday the Republican politician’s tweets about China seizing an underwater Navy drone do not mean the new administration plans to re-examine the One-China policy, which maintains the People’s Republic of China has precedence over the Taiwanese Republic of China.
“We’re not suggesting we’re revisiting One-China policy right now. He’s not president right now. He’s respectful to the current president,” Priebus told Fox News host Chris Wallace.
Questions emerged about Trump’s commitment to the One-China policy when he spoke with Taiwan’s newly elected leader earlier this month.
Priebus said Trump’s Saturday morning tweet, calling the drone seizure unprecedented, represented what 80 percent of Americans believe — that it was “inappropriate” for China to seize the drone. Trump’s later statement that China should keep the drone was also warranted, according to Priebus.
“I don’t know if you’d want that drone back,” Priebus said, referring to ways China could manipulate the U.S. military device for its own benefit.
Trump’s tweet came hours after the Pentagon announced China would return the underwater drone it intercepted in international waters in the South China Sea.
