US President Joe Biden’s off-the-cuff vow to defend Taiwan militarily was aimed at deterring Chinese aggression against Taiwan and was consistent with US policy on Taiwan, US experts say.
Amid China’s increasing use of political suppression and military coercion against Taiwan, Biden’s statement in Tokyo on Monday was meant to convey to Beijing the US’ intention to intervene if it were to attack Taiwan, former US official Robert Wang (王曉岷) told the Central News Agency (CNA).
“The purpose is to deter China from doing so, especially following Russia’s example in Ukraine,” said Wang, who served as senior US official for APEC from 2013 to 2015.
Photo: AP
At a news conference after his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Monday, Biden was asked: “Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?”
“Yes. It’s a commitment we made,” Biden said.
It was the third time that Biden had answered similar questions the same way, following his remarks in an interview with ABC News in August last year and then at a CNN town hall event in October last year.
Biden’s statement was interpreted by some as a deviation from the US’ policy of remaining vague regarding its response were Taiwan to come under attack by China, known as “strategic ambiguity,” and a move toward a more open commitment of intervention, or “strategic clarity.”
However, Biden on Tuesday said that the policy “has not changed at all.”
The White House and the US Department of State did not reply to CNA requests for comment on the issue, but Wang believed Biden’s answer to the question was consistent with fundamental US policy on Taiwan, citing Section 2 of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
The act says that any effort to determine Taiwan’s future by non-peaceful means is considered as a threat to the peace and security of the western Pacific area, and of grave concern to the US, Wang said.
The US is required by the TRA to have a policy of maintaining its capacity to resist any use of force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan, he said.
Wang said that the policy of “strategic ambiguity” was originally intended to let Taiwanese leaders know that the US is not required to intervene “if Taiwan initiates or provokes the conflict.”
“Biden is essentially saying that the US does not see that to be the case today, and US policy remains the same,” Wang added.
Michael Green of Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies agreed that Biden’s remarks were based on the TRA.
In his statement, Biden revealed the US’ intention to resist Chinese coercion against Taiwan based on the TRA, “rather than an actual change to strategic clarity,” Green said.
Green, who served on the National Security Council during the administration of former US president George W. Bush from 2004 to 2005, said that Biden’s remark reminded him of when Bush said in an interview in April 2001 that he would “rise up” to defend Taiwan if it were attacked.
Douglas Paal of Washington-based think tank the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace cautioned against possible fallout from Biden’s comments.
“Biden wants two incompatible things,” Paal said. “He wants to reassure China that American policy is constant and non-provocative. He also wants to offer assurances to defend Taiwan.”
Despite the efforts of the White House’s staff to walk back Biden’s remarks in favor of Taiwan by saying that US policy on Taiwan has not changed, it “does not resolve this contradiction,” he said.
“China is growing impatient with this and is escalating its language, and that is not likely to be a good thing for Taiwan, whatever one thinks about the ugliness of Beijing toward Taipei, or Hong Kong or others with which it has disputes,” Paal said. “I hope everyone calms down and watches one’s words.”
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