US President Joe Biden on Thursday (local time) said that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defence if it came under attack by China.
Addressing a CNN town hall meeting, the President said: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” He made these remarks when asked if the United States would defend Taiwan if China attack the country. Biden had been asked by an audience member about China’s recent testing of hypersonic missiles and questioned him about whether or not the United States would stand up to China.
“Don’t worry about whether they are going to be more powerful,” Biden said after reaffirming that the rest of the world “knows” that the United States has the most powerful military in the world, reported Fox News.
The President also dismissed the idea that he wants to start another cold war with China. “I don’t want a cold war with China,” Biden said. “I just want China to understand that we are not going to step back and we are not going to change any of our views,” Fox News added.
The support of the US to Taiwan has been irritant to Beijing as China claims sovereignty over Taiwan. The Chinese leaders have expressed their desire to “reunify” the country.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping had said that “solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the Chinese Communist Party and the common aspiration of all Chinese people”, said Newsweek.
Taiwan reacted by saying Mr. Biden’s statement would not change its own position with regard to China.
The US has a law that requires it to help Taiwan defend itself, but it has long been deliberately vague about what it would actually do if China were to attack Taiwan. This is known as its position of “strategic ambiguity”.
(With ANI inputs)
