Donald Trump’s pick for Beijing envoy affirms US commitment to one-China policy

David Perdue says pledges to Taiwan will be honoured, while promising ‘some pain’ in White House strategy to deal with its Asian rival

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David Perdue, nominee for the position of US ambassador to Beijing, testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:01am, 4 Apr 2025Updated: 7:27pm, 4 Apr 2025

US President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Beijing said on Thursday that the US leader’s strategy for China would involve “some pain” and claimed that allies must do more to counter the Asian country.

Speaking in a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, David Perdue, a former Republican senator representing Georgia, also affirmed Washington’s commitment to a one-China policy.

“We’re going to continue to honour the one-China policy, as stated in the Taiwan Relations Act, also backed up by the three communiques and the six assurances,” Perdue said.

The Taiwan Relations Act was signed by then-president Jimmy Carter shortly after Washington switched official diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, and obligates the US government to support Taiwan’s defence capabilities.

However, it does not specifically articulate a one-China policy, which is spelled out in the first of the communiques – agreements between the US and China that formalised the diplomatic switch.

Perdue’s reference to the “six assurances” relates to commitments that Washington made to Taipei in 1982 that it would disregard Beijing’s opposition to US arms sales to the island.