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Post by Admin on May 23, 2022 20:53:21 GMT
President Biden says America will defend Taiwan militarily if China decides to invade 166,286 views May 23, 2022 In a departure from longstanding U.S. policy, President Biden said at a press conference with the Japanese prime minister that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China decides to invade Taiwan. Nancy Cordes reports.
TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression in a comment that seemed to stretch the limits of the ambiguous U.S. policy towards the self-ruled island.
While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
After Biden made the remark at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, an aide said the president's statement represented no change in the long-standing American stance to the island that China claims as its own.
A reporter asked Biden if the United States would defend Taiwan if it were attacked. "Yes," the president answered.
"That's the commitment we made," said Biden, who helped build an international coalition trying to thwart Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We agree with a one-China policy. We've signed on to it and all the intended agreements made from there. But the idea that, that it (Taiwan) can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not, is just not appropriate," he said.
Biden added it was his expectation that such an event would not happen or be attempted.
But the comment was likely to be closely watched in a region worried about China's rising influence. China has been a key topic for Biden on his inaugural trip to Asia.
A White House official later said there was no change in policy toward Taiwan, a point reiterated by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a Pentagon briefing.
"As the president said, our 'one China' policy has not changed," Austin said. He said Biden had stressed the U.S. commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act "to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself."
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Post by Admin on May 24, 2022 0:54:24 GMT
US will intervene if China attacks Taiwan, says Biden - BBC News 336,251 views May 23, 2022 US President Joe Biden has warned China is "flirting with danger" over Taiwan, and vowed to intervene militarily to protect the island if it is attacked.
Speaking in Japan, he appeared to contradict long-standing US policy in the region, although the White House insisted there had been no departure.
Biden drew a parallel between Taiwan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, prompting an angry rebuke from Beijing.
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be re-unified with the mainland.
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Post by Admin on May 24, 2022 6:03:06 GMT
The White House moved swiftly to clarify President Joe Biden’s comments, but his assertion Monday that the U.S. will militarily defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion attempt may actually pave the way to conflict in the Taiwan Strait. It’s the second time since October that aides have had to walk back Biden’s comments that appear to reverse the longtime policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding U.S. willingness to defend Taiwan. “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 Monday in a statement. “He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.” Beijing was unconvinced. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that China “will take firm actions to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests.” The Chinese Communist Party considers “reunification with Taiwan,” a self-governing island that the CCP has never ruled, as a “historical task.” It’s also key to the credibility of President Xi Jinping as he seeks an unprecedented third term as China’s leader later this year. Observers say Biden’s verbal commitments to defend Taiwan may encourage rather than deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan. Some analysts argue that it could prompt preemptive military action by Beijing while China’s military offensive capabilities outstrip U.S. capacity to defeat them. “I still think this is Biden’s gut instinct reflected in mindless wording, not a policy reversal, but it is needlessly unsettling … if Biden keeps doing this, it could be a ‘big deal’ indeed,” Winston Lord, former U.S. Ambassador to China, told POLITICO in a statement. “We should maintain strategic ambiguity. We can deter Chinese attacks on Taiwan without destroying our ambiguous one-China policy, which has been a core element of our relations with Beijing for a half century.” The U.S. relationship with Taiwan is spelled out in the U.S.-China Three Communiqués, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances. The TRA commits the U.S. “to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.” None of those documents specifically obligate the U.S. to military intervention to protect Taiwan in the face of a PRC invasion. But the TRA suggests an active U.S. role in maintaining the island’s status quo.
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Post by Admin on May 25, 2022 2:57:21 GMT
China responds to comments from Biden about Taiwan l ABCNL 140,983 views May 24, 2022 ABC News’ Britt Clennett discusses the high tensions between the United States and China during President Joe Biden’s Asia tour.
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Post by Admin on May 28, 2022 20:34:10 GMT
Secretary Blinken outlines the Administration’s policy toward the People’s Republic of China 7,661 views May 27, 2022 Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivers an address outlining the Administration’s policy toward the People’s Republic of China, in Washington, D.C. on May 26, 2022.
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