"Pride goes before a fall," this is the stark warning that US president-elect Donald Trump has received from a Chinese government-backed newspaper in a scorching attack after he threatened to realign his country's policies towards Beijing.

The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, issued the warning after Trump re-awakened a long-running row between the two nuclear powers by hinting that his administration could recognize Taiwan.

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China regards Taiwan as its breakaway province, and Trump's threat to recognize Taipei unless China agreed on a 'new' deal with his government did not go down well in Beijing.

In an editorial that was published on Tuesday, the newspaper said that the "calculating businessman" might feel that he had pulled off a clever move by "seizing China's fate by the throat."

"However, the truth is that this inexperienced president-elect probably has no knowledge of what he is talking about," the editorial went on to say.

The newspaper further intimated that Trump has "overestimated" the United States' capabilities to dominate the world.

"He fails to understand the limitation of US powers in the current era," the newspaper said while urging China to respond to Trump's comments with "surprise moves."

According to the Chinese government's mouthpiece, Trump's comments revealed that he despises China strategically, saying that  "Even before entering the White House, he has already put his cards on the table over blackmailing China."

"What reason do we have to accept a most unfair and humiliating deal from Trump?" the newspaper wondered.

According to Jessica Chen Weiss, an expert on Chinese foreign policy and politics at the Cornell University, the tough language coming from China is meant to "educate Trump," adding that China will be looking chinks in the armor that Trump might be responsive to.

Trump's comments came less than two weeks after he ignited a row with Beijing after engaging in a phone conversation with Taiwan's first female president Tsai Ing-wen.

Tagsdonald trump, china, China and Taiwan, Taiwan