Al Jazeera News:-
US President Joe Biden has said he would use force to defend Taiwan if it was attacked by China, appearing to signal a shift away from Washington’s decades-long policy of so-called strategic ambiguity towards the East Asian democracy.
Biden made the remarks on Monday while visiting Japan, where he is on the second leg of his first trip to East Asia since taking office last year.
Responding to a reporter’s questions about Taiwan at a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said defending Taiwan was a “commitment we made”.
He said while the US agrees with the “one China policy” – which states there is a single China but does not define it – the idea that “Taiwan can be taken by force” is “not appropriate”.
Neither, he said, is “another action similar to what happened in Ukraine”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed Biden’s comments for “reaffirming” Washington’s “firm commitment to Taiwan” and would deepen cooperation with countries including the US and Japan.
“The challenges China poses to the security of the Taiwan Strait have aroused great concern to the international community,” a spokesperson said. “Our government’s firm determination to defend Taiwan’s freedom, democracy and security has never changed.”
The comments mark the third time that Biden, 79, has made such a statement only for it to be quickly walked back by White House staff.
Shortly after Biden’s remarks on Monday, an unnamed White House official told reporters there is “no change in US policy towards Taiwan”, according to Reuters.
Matthew Kroenig, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, said that while it is debatable whether or not Biden misspoke, the president’s remarks clarify his thinking on Taiwan.
