WASHINGTON: The White House has defended President Joe Biden’s comments that US Army would defend Taiwan in the event of Chinese invasionclaiming he was answering a “hypothetical question” that reflected no change in the United States’ “One China” policy.
In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Biden reiterated his previous pledge to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion.
The comments marked another example of the president appearing to venture beyond the United States’ longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the issue, CNN said.
“As the President said in his interview on ’60 Minutes’, we continue to support the The One China Policy. We continue to oppose unilateral changes to the status quo. And we continue to defend peace and stability through the Taiwan StraitU.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a White House press conference.
Under the “One China” policy, the United States recognizes China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the 23 million self-governing island. of inhabitants.
“The president has reiterated these fundamental commitments every time he has spoken about Taiwan, including in this interview where he specifically, forcefully and unequivocally reinforced and reiterated the one China policy,” Sullivan said in response. to a question about Biden’s recent interview.
“He was asked a hypothetical question in this interview. He was asked a very similar question in Tokyo in May. He gave a similar response in Tokyo in May to the one he gave in the ’60 Minutes’ interview,” Sullivan said.
“After that response in Tokyo, someone specifically said to him, ‘Did you just announce a major policy change?’ And he said, ‘No, I haven’t. I answered a hypothetical question. I have not announced any change in policy,” he added.
When the President of the United States wants to announce a policy change, he will. He didn’t, Sullivan said.
Biden, he said, is a simple person.
“He responded to a hypothesis. He has already answered it in the same way. And it’s also been clear that he hasn’t changed US policy toward Taiwan“Sullivan said.
“He supports the historic United States policy toward Taiwan that has existed through Democratic and Republican administrations and has helped maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait for decades,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with CBS News, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US would continue to engage with the Chinese on the Security Council.
“But what Beijing needs to understand from the president’s statement is that we haven’t had a change in policy. We always support the one China policy, but we have also been clear in our defense of Taiwan’s right to exist, and the president was clear on 60 minutes in his statement on Sunday,” he said. she asserted.
Hours after Biden’s remarks, China made it clear in Washington on Monday that it would not tolerate any activity aimed at dividing the country and would take “necessary measures” to protect its sovereignty.
In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Biden reiterated his previous pledge to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion.
The comments marked another example of the president appearing to venture beyond the United States’ longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the issue, CNN said.
“As the President said in his interview on ’60 Minutes’, we continue to support the The One China Policy. We continue to oppose unilateral changes to the status quo. And we continue to defend peace and stability through the Taiwan StraitU.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a White House press conference.
Under the “One China” policy, the United States recognizes China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the 23 million self-governing island. of inhabitants.
“The president has reiterated these fundamental commitments every time he has spoken about Taiwan, including in this interview where he specifically, forcefully and unequivocally reinforced and reiterated the one China policy,” Sullivan said in response. to a question about Biden’s recent interview.
“He was asked a hypothetical question in this interview. He was asked a very similar question in Tokyo in May. He gave a similar response in Tokyo in May to the one he gave in the ’60 Minutes’ interview,” Sullivan said.
“After that response in Tokyo, someone specifically said to him, ‘Did you just announce a major policy change?’ And he said, ‘No, I haven’t. I answered a hypothetical question. I have not announced any change in policy,” he added.
When the President of the United States wants to announce a policy change, he will. He didn’t, Sullivan said.
Biden, he said, is a simple person.
“He responded to a hypothesis. He has already answered it in the same way. And it’s also been clear that he hasn’t changed US policy toward Taiwan“Sullivan said.
“He supports the historic United States policy toward Taiwan that has existed through Democratic and Republican administrations and has helped maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait for decades,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with CBS News, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US would continue to engage with the Chinese on the Security Council.
“But what Beijing needs to understand from the president’s statement is that we haven’t had a change in policy. We always support the one China policy, but we have also been clear in our defense of Taiwan’s right to exist, and the president was clear on 60 minutes in his statement on Sunday,” he said. she asserted.
Hours after Biden’s remarks, China made it clear in Washington on Monday that it would not tolerate any activity aimed at dividing the country and would take “necessary measures” to protect its sovereignty.
