Chinese premier, Trump have cordial talk

BEIJING — Donald Trump has called China a “currency manipulator,” threatened to impose stiff tariffs on Chinese imports and accused the country of inventing the idea of climate change to hurt U.S. businesses.

[...] in his first telephone conversation with President Xi Jinping of China, Trump, now the president-elect, appeared to set aside those critiques expressed on the campaign trail, vowing that the two nations would have “one of the strongest relationships,” according to a statement released by Trump’s transition office, Reuters reported.

Trump is a longtime critic of U.S. trade policies with Asian countries, and his pledge to rethink security commitments in Japan and South Korea has created uncertainty in the region.