President Joe Biden said the United States would be willing to intervene to defend Taiwan if China were to invade, the latest Biden comment casting doubt on the longstanding U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the matter.
At a news conference in Tokyo, Biden was asked whether the United States was willing to “get involved militarily to defend Taiwan,” considering Washington was reluctant to do so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Yes. That’s the commitment we made,” said Biden, without elaborating on what a hypothetical U.S. defense of Taiwan would entail.
It is Biden’s latest apparent move away from the approach of “strategic ambiguity” that U.S. presidents have long embraced when talking about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Biden made similar remarks in October. In both instances, White House officials quickly attempted to clarify Biden’s comments.
“As the President said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China Policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” a White House official said later Monday.
China, a single-party authoritarian state, views democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province and has long vowed to retake it, by force, if necessary. In recent years, Beijing has also flown an increasing number of warplanes near the island.
In Tokyo, Biden said China is “flirting with danger,” but that he does not expect China will use force to attempt to take Taiwan, especially if the world stands up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“My expectation is that a lot of it depends on just how strongly the world makes clear that that kind of action is going to result in long-term disapprobation,” Biden said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was speaking alongside Biden, offered a less direct answer on whether Japan would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan.
However, Kishida said “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, like in Ukraine, should never be tolerated in the Indo-Pacific.”
Kishida said he and Biden underscored the importance of peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.
During their summit, Kishida also said Biden supported Japan’s recent efforts to “fundamentally reinforce Japan’s defense capability.”
Biden is in the middle of a three-day visit to Japan, following a stop in South Korea. Later Monday, Biden will unveil a framework meant to demonstrate U.S. economic engagement to Asia.
On Tuesday, Biden and Kishida will participate in a summit meeting of the Quad — a regional grouping made up of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia — which is widely seen as an attempt to contain China.
(AS/VOA)
