Secretary of State John Kerry seemed a bit miffed over the weekend when asked about President-elect Donald Trump's decision to speak with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, saying there's "value" in speaking to established politicians before reaching out to foreign leaders.
"We have not been contacted before any of these conversations. We have not been requested to provide talking points," Kerry said at the Saban Forum in Washington, D.C., reports CNN.
"I do think there's a value, obviously, on having at least the recommendations, whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think it's valuable to ask people who've worked the desk and have worked it for a long period of time their input on what's the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment. I think that's valuable and I would certainly recommend it, but obviously that hasn't happened in a few cases."
Kerry did add, however, that he's trying to stay out of the way of Trump's transition as the real estate mogul assembles his team before he takes office next month.
"I'm really consciously working to stay a thousand miles away from the Trump transition process," Kerry said.
Trump's decision to break longstanding U.S. tradition — and potentially risk America's relationship with China — to speak with Tsai last week caused a flurry of criticism.
China does not recognize Taiwan as its own country and, officially, neither does the U.S. America has maintained an unofficial diplomatic relationship with the island nation since 1979.
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