Newsman: President Joe Biden has reiterated that United States military personnel would defend Taiwan if the Chinese military were to launch an invasion of the democratically ruled island. But the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that “reunification” between China and Taiwan is inevitable and refused to rule out the use of force. Tensions between Beijing and Taipei are at the highest they’ve been in recent decades, with the Chinese military holding major military drills near the island.
Appearing on the CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Biden was asked whether “US forces, US men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion,” a prospect US officials privately fear is becoming more likely.
“Yes,” Biden said.
It’s not the first time Biden has appeared to venture beyond the longstanding US approach of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to the defense of Taiwan. Most recently, during a visit to Tokyo in May, Biden said the US would intervene militarily if China attempts to take Taiwan by force.
Beijing swiftly condemned Biden’s comments and repeated its warning that China reserves the “option to take all necessary measures” to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“The US remarks seriously violate the one-China principle and the provisions of the three US-China joint communiqués. It is also a serious violation of the important commitment made by the US side not to support Taiwan independence,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said in a briefing Monday.
“It sent a serious wrong signal to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition and has made serious representations to the US side,” Mao added.
The White House has been quick to downplay Biden’s previous comments on Taiwan, reiterating that US policy hasn’t changed, and on Sunday, “60 Minutes” reported receiving a similar response to Biden’s answers in their interview.
Last week, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen said that while Xi has not made the decision to invade Taiwan, he wants China’s People’s Liberation Army to have the capability to take control of the island by force by 2027.
The US intelligence community does not believe that Beijing has made a decision about whether or not to proceed, said Cohen, adding that it is believed Xi would prefer to gain control of Taiwan through “nonmilitary means.”
“We are watching very carefully how the Chinese are understanding the situation in Ukraine – how the Russians have performed, how the Ukrainians have performed, and the implications of that for their own plans as they may be in Taiwan,” Cohen said.
Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the self-governing island of 23 million. The US provides Taiwan with defensive weapons, but has remained intentionally ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.
Biden repeated his commitment to those policies in the “60 Minutes” interview.
“We agree with what we signed onto a long time ago. And that there’s ‘one China’ policy, and Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving – we’re not encouraging their being independent … That’s their decision,” he said.
But asked if US forces would defend the island, he said they would: “Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”
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The issue of Taiwan was also among the key talking points during last week’s meeting between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a regional summit in Uzbekistan, with both men agreeing that Chinese sovereignty over the island is a non-negotiable “red line.”
Xi also said he appreciated “Russia’s adherence to the ‘one China’ principle” and stressed that Taiwan is a part of China.
