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US and Japan will ‘stand firmly’ against Taiwan takeover, Joe Biden says
- Stability on the Taiwan Strait was among the regional topics discussed by Biden and Japan PM Fumio Kishida during their bilateral talks in Tokyo
- Biden said the US agreed with the One-China Policy, ‘but the idea that it can be taken by force ... is just not appropriate’
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Julian Ryallin Tokyo
US President Joe Biden on Monday said he did not expect China to attempt reunification with Taiwan by force, but underscored that Washington remained committed to militarily defend the self-ruled island if the need arose.
Stability on the Taiwan Strait was among the regional topics discussed by Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their bilateral talks on Monday in Tokyo.
Biden, on his maiden Asia tour as US president, flew to Japan on Sunday after visiting South Korea, another American treaty ally.
Asked during Monday’s press conference if the US was willing to involved militarily to defend Taiwan given its decision not to get involved in the Ukraine-Russia war, Biden replied in the affirmative, saying “yes, that’s the commitment we made”.
“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 ... is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine,” Biden said.
His comment suggesting that the US was resolute about defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion appeared to directly contravene Washington’s decades-old policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the matter.
The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed US relations with the island, does not require the US to step in militarily to defend Taiwan if China invades, but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status in Taiwan by Beijing.
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