US military forces would defend Taiwan if there was “an unprecedented attack,” US President Joe Biden said, underscoring the US’ commitment to the nation as Chinese incursions mount near its shores.
Asked in a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday whether US forces would defend Taiwan, Biden replied: “Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack.”
Asked to clarify if he meant that unlike in Ukraine, US forces — American men and women — would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: “Yes.”
Photo: Screen grab from CBS “60 Minutes”
The interview was just the latest time that Biden has appeared to go beyond long-standing stated US policy on Taiwan, but his statement was clearer than previous ones about committing US troops to defend the nation.
Still, he reiterated earlier in the interview that the US’ “one China policy” had not changed.
“We agree with what we signed onto a long time ago. And that there’s one China policy, and Taiwan makes their own judgements about their independence. We are not moving — we’re not encouraging their being independent,” he said. “That’s their decision.”
CBS News reported the White House said after the interview US policy has not changed.
In May, Biden said “yes” when asked at a news conference in Tokyo whether he was willing to get the US involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded.
“That’s the commitment we made,” he said then, before White House officials walked back his comments.
Tension is rising following China’s moves to intimidate Taiwan by firing missiles into the surrounding waters and flying fighter jets nearby over visits to Taipei by political figures including US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday last week approved a bill that would formally designate Taiwan a “major non-NATO ally” and sell it more military hardware, even as the White House has expressed concerns over the legislation.
The CBS interview with Biden was conducted last week. He was in the UK for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral yesterday.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its “sincere gratitude” to Biden for “affirming the US government’s rock-solid promise of security to Taiwan.”
In light of China’s military expansion and provocative actions, Taiwan would continue to boost its self-defense capabilities, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Taiwan would deepen its partnership with the US and work with like-minded countries to safeguard the Taiwan Strait, as well as regional peace, stability and prosperity, Ou said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a member of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said the debate over “strategic ambiguity or strategic clarity” seems to have come to an end.
“It is hard to imagine that the US will just sit back” if a conflict were to break out in the Strait, but “Washington immediately sending troops to help Taiwan is also unlikely,” he said.
“Clear strategies and ambiguous tactics” have always been the position of the US, he added.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) thanked Biden for taking a clear stance on supporting Taiwan.
“This [Biden’s speech] is like a shot in the arm for Taiwan and can effectively deter China from using force against the nation,” he said.
Taiwan would not provoke a war, nor does it fear conflict, he said, adding that the nation would continue to improve its national defense capability, and protect freedom and democracy together with other democracies.
Lev Nachman, assistant professor at National Chengchi University, said that “the biggest problem we have is that what the White House says is our Taiwan policy and what Biden says is our Taiwan policy contradict each other.”
“Even though this is not the first time Biden has made such comments, today’s context makes them hit extra hard because of the Taiwan policy act’s ongoing debate and the recent Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait,” he added. “The worry is that this will exacerbate Taiwan’s current high-tension moment rather than reduce it.”
Beijing yesterday said Biden’s latest comments “severely violate” Washington’s policy toward Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2