According to US President Joe Biden, the US would also defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack. China has no right to take Taiwan by force, Biden emphasized at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday in Tokyo.
China’s behavior, including military maneuvers and flights near the island, “flirts with danger,” Biden said. However, he does not assume that China will actually try to attack Taiwan.
When asked by a journalist whether the United States would also defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack, Biden said: “Yes.” When asked by the reporter, Biden emphasized: “That is an obligation that we have made.” Taking Taiwan by force would mean the whole thing destabilize the region and resemble what happened in Ukraine, Biden said, referring to the Russian war of aggression. “We remain committed to supporting cross-strait peace and stability and ensuring there is no unilateral change in the status quo,” Biden said, referring to the strait between mainland China and Taiwan.
Biden had already declared at the end of last year that the United States had an “obligation” to assist Taiwan in the event of an attack. The communist leadership in Beijing regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and threatens to conquer it. The United States has committed itself to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself – which has so far primarily meant arms deliveries. The question of military assistance in the event of an attack was deliberately left open because Beijing saw it as a violation of the “One China Doctrine”. With this “strategic ambiguity” by the US, Beijing should remain unsure what the US would do in the event of war.
