US President Joe Biden yesterday vowed that US forces would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack in his strongest statement to date on the issue.
Beijing is already “flirting with danger,” Biden said following talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, in which the pair agreed to monitor Chinese naval activity and joint Chinese-Russian exercises.
Asked if Washington was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, he replied: “Yes.”
Photo: AP
“That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said. “We agreed with the ‘one China’ policy, we signed on to it ... but the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate, it would dislocate the entire region and would be another action similar to Ukraine.”
Biden directly linked the fates of Ukraine and Taiwan, saying that sanctions on Russia must exact a “long-term price,” because otherwise “what signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting to take Taiwan by force?”
He warned that Beijing was “flirting with danger right now by flying so close and all the maneuvers undertaken,” referring to a growing number of Chinese sorties, naval exercises and other power projections in the Taiwan Strait.
Photo: Reuters
In Washington, the White House said that Biden was not diverging from the US’ official “one China” policy, which includes the commitment to “provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
“Our policy has not changed,” an official said.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) thanked Biden and the White House for their “rock solid” commitment to Taiwan.
The threat China poses to security in the Taiwan Strait is of great concern to the international community, Ou told reporters, adding that Taiwan’s determination to defend its freedom and democracy has never changed.
In Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said that “no one should underestimate the firm resolve, staunch will and strong ability of the Chinese people in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“China has no room for compromise or concession,” Wang said.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK predicted that Biden’s comments would spark debate, as they appear to contradict the long-running US policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan.
Biden made similar comments in October last year when asked during a CNN town hall whether the US would come to Taiwan’s defense, responding: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.”
In August last year, he listed Taiwan among nations the US has a commitment to defend in comments to ABC News.
In both instances, the White House made statements shortly afterward saying that US policy toward Taiwan had not changed.
Meanwhile, Kishida called for stability in the Taiwan Strait and said that Tokyo was committed to boosting its defense spending, a sensitive subject in a nation with constitutional limits on its military.
“Japan will fundamentally strengthen its defense capacity, and to back that up will significantly increase its defense spending,” Kishida told a news conference held with Biden. “We do not rule out any options, including [acquiring] the capacity to counterattack.”
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS