Biden declares that U.S troops would defend Taiwan in the face of Chinese invasion.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden has explicitly stated in an interview broadcast on Sunday, that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Responding to this question that was asked in a CBS “60 minutes” interview, the POTUS said, “Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.”
Biden’s response was quite surprising, because it seems to go beyond the long standing U.S policy of “Strategic Ambiguity” which involves not clearly stating whether or not it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
In May 2022, Biden was similarly asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan and he replied: “Yes… That’s the commitment we made.”
Biden further reiterated in the CBS interview, that the United States did not support Taiwanese independence and remained committed to a “One-China” policy in which Washington officially recognizes Beijing not Taipei.
“We are not moving, we are not encouraging their being independent … that’s their decision”, Biden said.
Also asked to clarify if he meant that, unlike in Ukraine, U.S. forces – men and women– would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: “Yes.”
A White House spokesperson when asked to comment on the matter, maintained that the U.S. policy towards Taiwan had not changed, saying:
“The president has said this before, including in Tokyo earlier this year. He also made clear then that our Taiwan policy hasn’t changed. That remains true.”
While China is “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to Biden’s comments and had even lodged a formal complaint over it, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, Taiwan’s foreign ministry on the other hand, has expressed its thanks to Biden for his reaffirming the “U.S. government’s rock-solid security commitment to Taiwan”.
China has severely protested against moves by U.S. lawmakers to advance legislation that would enhance U.S. military support for Taiwan, with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping vowing to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control, even if it would demand the use of force and further threatening Biden over a phone call sometime in July, saying “those who play with fire will perish by it.”
Taiwan however, strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims, and the Taiwan Foreign Ministry has stated that “Taiwan will continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States.”
Asian expert, Bonnie Glacier also said on the topic, that if Biden made such pledges he must ensure he can back them up.
“If President Biden plans to defend Taiwan, then he should make sure the U.S. military has the capability to do so… Rhetorical support that isn’t backed up by real capabilities is unlikely to strengthen deterrence,” she said.
Source: Reuters.
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