A rattled Beijing has played down the impact on relations with Washington of US president-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s president, with the state-run China Daily blaming the Trump’s team’s inexperience.

As Beijing tried to evaluate whether US policy had shifted, it launched a formal protest over the call with Tsai Ing-wen, the first between a US president or president-elect and a president of Taiwan since diplomatic relations between Washington and the island were cut in 1979. China views Taiwan as a renegade province.

Beijing has kept its tone stern but measured, in part to keep unruly domestic opinion from forcing its hand. On Saturday, messages about the call were quickly deleted from WeChat, China’s ubiquitous smartphone app.