U.S. President Joe Biden said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement so far on the issue and comments sure to anger Beijing.
Asked in a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday whether U.S. forces would defend the democratically governed island claimed by China, he replied: โYes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.โ
Asked to clarify if he meant that unlike in Ukraine, U.S. forces โ American men and women โ would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: โYes.โ
The interview was just the latest time that Biden has appeared to go beyond long-standing stated U.S. policy on Taiwan, but his statement was clearer than previous ones about committing U.S. troops to defend the island.
The United States has long stuck to a policy of โstrategic ambiguityโ and not making clear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
Asked to comment, a White House spokesperson said U.S. policy towards Taiwan had not changed.
โThe President has said this before, including in Tokyo earlier this year. He also made clear then that our Taiwan policy hasnโt changed. That remains true,โ the spokesperson said.
Taiwanโs Foreign Ministry expressed its thanks to Biden for his reaffirming of the โU.S. governmentโs rock-solid security commitment to Taiwanโ.
Taiwan will continue to strengthen its self-defence capabilities and deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States, it said in a statement.
The CBS interview with Biden was conducted last week. The president is in Britain for Queen Elizabethโs funeral on Monday.
In May, Biden was asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan and replied: โYes โฆ Thatโs the commitment we made.โ
In the 60 Minutes interview, Biden reiterated the United States did not support Taiwanese independence and remained committed to a โOne-Chinaโ policy in which Washington officially recognizes Beijing, not Taipei.
Bidenโs remarks are sure to enrage Beijing, which was greatly angered by a visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August.
That visit promoted China to conduct its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan and China has protested moves by U.S. lawmakers to advance legislation that would enhance U.S. military support for Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring Taiwan under Beijingโs control and has not ruled out the use of force. Taiwan strongly objects to Chinaโs sovereignty claims.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Chinaโs embassy in Washington.
In a phone call with Biden in July, Xi warned against playing with fire over Taiwan, saying โthose who play with fire will perish by it.โ
Asked last October if the United States would come to the defence of Taiwan, which the United States is required by law to provide with the means to defend itself, Biden said: โYes, we have a commitment to do that.โ
At that time, a White House spokesperson said Biden was not announcing any change in U.S. policy and some experts referred to the comment as a โgaffeโ.
Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said if Biden made such pledges he needed to ensure he could back them up.
โIf President Biden plans to defend Taiwan, then he should make sure the U.S. military has the capability to do so,โ she said. โRhetorical support that isnโt backed up by real capabilities is unlikely to strengthen deterrence.โ
Bidenโs Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell, has in the past rejected any move to โstrategic clarityโ over Taiwan, saying there were โsignificant downsidesโ to such an approach.
