Hey, It's Just A Phone Call - Right?

Or at least that's how Trump's team is spinning it.

In reality, it's serious -- real serious. A Financial Times article -- aargh, it's behind a paywall and I can't provide further backup -- says:

The stakes involved in the triangular relationship between Taipei, Beijing and Washington could not be higher. The Chinese government has repeatedly stressed that it is prepared to go to war, rather than accept Taiwanese independence. The US, while it does not promote the independence of Taiwan, has also promised to resist any attempt to incorporate Taiwan into China by force. I have personally witnessed a conversation between Chinese officials and high-ranking Americans, in which the US side has said openly that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would lead to war between the US and China.

Click here for an article in The Washington Post, by Amber Phillips and Cleve R. Wootson Jr., entitled "Donald Trump’s team says chat with Taiwan was ‘just a phone call.’"

“It was just a phone call,” [senior Trump transition adviser Kellyanne] Conway told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” about Trump's 10-minute phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Just move on. Nothing to see here.

In response to Wallace's question about whether the call signals a shift in the decades-long U.S. policy toward China (namely, that the United States doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country, let alone talk publicly with its president), Conway said: “It signals the fact that he was accepting a congratulatory call.”

During an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week,” Vice President-elect Mike Pence characterized the conversation as simply a “courtesy call” and demurred when host George Stephanopoulos asked whether it signaled a break with the United States' “one-China” policy.

“We’ll deal with policy after Jan. 20,” Pence said, referring to Inauguration Day.

The article goes on to comment:

Trump's team seemed not to differentiate between the call with Taiwan — which had Chinese leaders fuming and left many U.S. diplomatic leaders stunned — and the dozens of other calls he has received from world leaders.

But most members of the U.S. diplomatic corps say there are potentially major consequences for a U.S. president or president-elect chatting with Taiwan's leader.

The man has no idea that his irresponsible actions have consequences, and in fact may have very serious consequences. He's seriously botching things already, and he won't even be president for another 46 days. He's totally clueless and unfit for the presidency. God help us all.