Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop reiterated Australia's recognition of the one-China policy and called for countries to continue sticking to it.

In the transcript of an interview with Sky News published on her official website on Wednesday, Bishop said Australia "upholds the principle of a one-China policy", after being requested to comment on remarks made by US President-elect Donald Trump, who said on Sunday that the US doesn't have to be bound by the policy.

Bishop said that "Australia's position is as it has been since 1972 and that is we recognize the one-China policy, and it has been important for peace, stability in our region for countries to continue to be consistent in that regard’’.

The Australian foreign minister's comments came after reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Germany will stick to the one-China policy and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Trump's remarks were "not clever".