Joe Biden says his country will defend Taiwan if China attacks
October 22, 2021, 2:43 am

Joe Biden says his country will defend Taiwan if China attacks

Biden-US president/Shutterstock

The BBC reported, US President Joe Biden said his country would defend Taiwan if China attacked, in an apparent departure from a long-held policy.

"Yes, we have a commitment to do that," he said when asked at a town hall whether the US would defend Taiwan.

But a White House spokesman later told some US media outlets that his remarks did not signify a change in policy.

The BBC said, the US has long practised "strategic ambiguity" when it comes to the thorny issue of defending Taiwan.

This has meant the US has been deliberately ambiguous about what it would do if China attacked the island.

According to the BBC, the US has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but sells arms to the island as part of its Taiwan Relations Act, which states that the US must help Taiwan defend itself.

It mentioned that China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, one that it may take back by force one day if necessary, whereas Taiwan claims that it is a sovereign state.

It noted that tensions have been rising between the two in recent weeks after Beijing flew dozens of warplanes into Taiwan's air defence zone.

Source: BBC

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.