Is Trump playing the Taiwan card against China?

China Flag map. PRC and ROC Taiwan

China will "take off the gloves" and take strong action if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to provoke Beijing over Taiwan once he assumes office, two leading state-run newspapers said on Monday.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump said the "One China" policy was up for negotiation. China's foreign ministry, in response, said "One China" was the foundation of China-U.S. ties and was non-negotiable.

Trump broke with decades of precedent last month by taking a congratulatory telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, angering Beijing which sees Taiwan as part of China.

"If Trump is determined to use this gambit in taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves," the English-language China Daily said.

The Global Times, an influential state-run tabloid, echoed the China Daily, saying Beijing would take "strong countermeasures" against Trump's attempt to "impair" the "One China" principle.

"The Chinese mainland will be prompted to speed up Taiwan reunification and mercilessly combat those who advocate Taiwan's independence," the paper said in an editorial.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the United States was clearly aware of China's position on "One China".

There are reasons to believe that the Trump administration, once sworn in the office this coming friday, 20th January 2017,  will use every card it has to force China to "play by the rules" by not manipulating their currency, a fair trade agreement between two nations, and the escalating tention in South China Sea, in which China is building artificial islands in the cluster within the EEZ (exclusive Economic Zone - 200 nautical miles) of the Philippines. Which the UN Tribunal already ruled in favor of the Philippines.