US President Joe Biden spoke during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their bilateral meeting at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst Reuters
President Joe Biden insisted on Tuesday that the United States had not changed its strategic policy toward Taiwan, a day after angering Beijing when it said its administration would be ready to use military force to defend the island.
Biden met with leaders from Japan, India and Australia at their second so-called summit of the four leaders, which ended on Tuesday in Tokyo.
The US president shocked many delegates when he suggested on Monday that the United States could deploy US troops on the island if China invaded. Asked by a reporter if he “would like to join the military to protect Taiwan”, Biden replied “yes”.
The remarks came as a surprising departure from a decade-long US policy warning China not to use force in Taiwan – but it remained unclear to what extent it would protect the island.
The president clarified his statement after talks with world leaders ended in Tokyo on Tuesday.
“Politics has not changed at all,” he said when asked if his earlier comments signaled an end to the U.S. approach to strategic ambiguity that U.S. diplomats have followed for decades. “I said that when I made my statement yesterday.”
Biden’s initial declaration, made during his first trip to Asia as president, inflamed tensions between the United States and the Chinese Communist government, which believes Taiwan is part of its territory and cannot exist as a sovereign nation.
Despite Biden’s explanations, it remains unclear whether the president’s comments were a blunder or a deliberate one. However, the White House was quick to offer a moderating message in an email to CNBC.
“As the president said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our policy towards China and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, a White House official told CNBC in an email.
One China’s policy claims that the Communist People’s Republic of China is China’s only legitimate government and recognizes informal relations with the people of Taiwan.
“He also reaffirmed our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with military protection,” the White House official added.
However, Chinese communist leaders were not convinced.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned on Monday that “no one should underestimate the strong determination, determination and ability of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“No one should oppose the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” he added.
This is not the first time White House staffers have tried to soften the president’s remarks.
Biden sparked a political firestorm in March when he said in Poland that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot stay in power.” Later that day, a White House official tried to clarify that Biden “did not discuss Putin’s rule in Russia or regime change.”
Deuadrick McNeill, who has been appointed to the Obama era by the Department of Defense, insisted the president’s comments on Taiwan were not wrong.
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“This was NOT a blunder or a misrepresentation by President Biden – his opinion may not be the opinion of his advisers,” McNeill, a CNBC contributor, said in an email Tuesday morning. “This was a very deliberate statement aimed at sending a signal not only to Beijing but also to Taipei.” [the capital of Taiwan]”
The promise of US military intervention will also replace the provisions of the US-China Relations Act, Taiwan, which has guided geopolitical policy in Asia since 1979.
The law obliges the United States “to maintain the capacity of the United States to oppose any use of force or other forms of coercion that could endanger the security or social or economic system of the people of Taiwan.”
Although the law does not oblige Washington to use the US military to protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion, it has long been considered an inaccurate promise to maintain the current order on the self-governing island.
“Biden wants to make it clear to the world that US commitments mean something,” McNeill added.
McNeill, who is now a political analyst at Longview Global, said Biden probably believes that many of the assumptions underlying US policy of “strategic ambiguity” are questionable.
Some of these assumptions, he explained, include the idea that China’s military capabilities will not outpace those of Taiwan and that discussions between Beijing and Taipei will lead to a peaceful solution.
Although the US president may still believe in One China’s policy as far as the Communist Party controls China, Biden’s remarks may reflect a desire to modernize the policy of “strategic ambiguity” to take into account these outdated assumptions, he added.
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