The Explainer: List of disputes between U.S. & China

A seemingly innocuous phone call between the U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen ignited a war of words between China and Donald Trump.

In a series of short articles, I will focus on the historic and current status of the relationships between the U.S.-China, U.S.-Taiwan, and China-Taiwan.

The following are the major issues that characterize the uneasy relationship between the U.S. and China. 

(a) Tibet and the Dalai Lama;

(b) Taiwan, especially arms sales to the island nation;

(c) Xinjiang and Uighurs;

(d) China's claims over the South China Sea;

(e) Beijing’s abysmal human rights record, including denial of political freedom to political dissidents;

(f)  disagreement over climate change, especially on measures
to tackle it;

(g) trade-related disputes like currency valuation;

(h) China’s behaviour in international forums, like in the UN on the Syria issue;

(i)  Chinese
espionage, especially industrial and defence, and

(j)  cyber-attacks on American corporations;.

Of the above, there are two that cause China the greatest
discomfort: Tibet and Taiwan. In the coming series of short posts, I will explain some of these disputes.