Recently, President Joe Biden stated that the U.S. was still completely committed to becoming militarily involved if anyone was to invade Taiwan.
He issued these statements on Monday morning while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as part of a press conference set in Tokyo, Japan as part of a five-day-long escapade across Asia. Biden’s statements come just as there has been increased worry over the possibility that China could be preparing to launch an attack on Taiwan.
“You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons,” stated a reporter to Biden. “Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?”
“Yes,” Biden stated. “That’s the commitment we made.”
It was entirely unclear if Biden was making reference to the possibility of sending just standard military aid or taking a more direct approach to the defense. He also stated that it would not be at all appropriate for Taiwan to be taken by force.
“We agree with the One China policy. We signed on to it, and all the attendant agreements made from there, but the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, is [just not] appropriate,” stated Biden.
Directly after the comments from Biden, White House officials released a statement that seemed to slightly temper and walk back the strong commitments claimed by Biden’s comments, saying that “our policy has not changed.”
It went on to say that Biden “reiterated our One China Policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
Shortly after his statements, China responded that it had “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the president’s statements saying that the U.S. should be “cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue, and not send any wrong signal to pro-Taiwan independence and separatist forces.”
This is not at all the first time that the White House has had to try and spin down statements made by the president in regards to Taiwan. As part of a CNN town hall, Biden seemed to claim that the U.S. would heartily defend Taiwan via military action if it was indeed attacked, but officials with the White House claimed in its wake that there had been no change in the official U.S. policy.
As Biden made it to Asia earlier this past week, China flew a contingent of 14 fight jets through the aid defense identification zone of Taiwan. Taiwan’s airspace has been repeatedly breached on more frequent occasions this year, as reported by Stars and Stripes.
As part of his comments made on Monday, he asserted that China was “flirting with danger” in regard to China’s flight maneuvers in Taiwanese airspace.