White House backtracks after Biden appears to say US would defend Taiwan against China
]
A senior Biden administration official said US policy on Taiwan had not changed after President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the US would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held US position of “strategic ambiguity”.
In an interview aired by ABC News on Thursday, Biden was asked about the effects of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and responses in Chinese media telling Taiwan this showed Washington could not be relied on to come to its defence.
Biden replied that Taiwan, South Korea and Nato were fundamentally different situations to Afghanistan and appeared to lump Taiwan together with countries to which Washington has explicit defence commitments.
“They are … entities we’ve made agreements with based on not a civil war they’re having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doing bad things to them,” the president said.
“We have made, kept every commitment. We made a sacred commitment to article 5 that if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our Nato allies, we would respond. Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with Taiwan. It’s not even comparable to talk about that.”
A senior Biden administration official said later on Thursday that US “policy with regard to Taiwan has not changed” and analysts said it appeared that Biden had misspoken.
China’s embassy in Washington and Taiwan’s representative office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but it has long followed a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
Article 5 is a Nato agreement that states an attack on one member of the alliance is viewed as an attack on all.
South Korea is also a US treaty ally with a mutual defence agreement, but US relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan have been unofficial since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.
Some prominent US academics and others have argued Washington should give Taiwan a more explicit security guarantee in light of increasing military pressure from Beijing. But Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy coordinator, Kurt Campbell, has appeared to reject this, saying in May there were “significant downsides” to such an approach.
Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, called Biden’s apparent mischaracterisation “unfortunate”.
“The US had an article 5 commitment to Taiwan from 1954 to 1979. The Biden administration isn’t considering returning to that commitment, as indicated by public statements by Kurt Campbell.”
Earlier this week, Republican senator John Cornyn erroneously tweeted that the US has 30,000 troops in Taiwan, which has not been the case since before 1979.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was asked about Taiwan this week and called it a “fundamentally different question in a different context” to Afghanistan.
“We believe our commitment to Taiwan … remains as strong as it’s ever been,” he said, without specifying what the commitment was.
Biden pledges US will ‘respond’ if China invades Taiwan
]
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to doubts over Washington’s commitment to its allies such as Taiwan following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden on Wednesday (Aug. 18) said that his nation would “respond” if Taiwan was attacked or invaded by China.
During an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Wednesday, the host noted that China and Russia have had a propaganda field day with the fall of Kabul following the U.S. pullout. Pointing out that China has exploited the situation to make comparisons between Afghanistan and Taiwan, “You can already see China telling Taiwan, ‘See? You can’t count on the Americans.”
Biden responded by saying “why wouldn’t China say that?” He then said that there is a “fundamental difference” between the American stance on Afghanistan and its allies Taiwan, South Korea, and NATO. In an apparent attempt to draw a distinction between the situation in Afghanistan versus agreements with Taiwan and South Korea, Biden said:
“We are in a situation where they are in– entities we’ve made agreements with based on not a civil war they’re having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doin’ bad things to them.”
Biden then made reference to the Article Five commitment with NATO in which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members, resulting in a unified military reaction: “We have made– kept every commitment. We made a sacred commitment to Article Five that if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we would respond.” He then added “Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with — Taiwan.”
The U.S. currently has a similar article in its defense treaties with Japan (Article 5) and South Korea (Article 3). However, it is not certain what Biden was referring to with Taiwan because although an Article 5 existed in the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty (中美共同防禦條約), it was abrogated by former President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
The current Taiwan Relations Act which was approved by Congress in 1979 does not guarantee the U.S. defense of the country in the event of an attack. Instead, it contains a provision that calls for the supply of arms to the country for its defense: “The United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”
Biden’s statement on the defense of Taiwan would appear to be a departure from official U.S. policy and his long-term favored position of “strategic ambiguity” over Taiwan. However, on Friday (Aug. 20), Reuters quoted a senior official as stating that Washington’s “policy with regard to Taiwan has not changed” and cited analysts as suggesting that Biden had “misspoken.”
UPDATE 1-U.S. position on Taiwan unchanged despite Biden comment - official
]
(Updates with Taiwan government comment)
By David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A Biden administration official said on Thursday that U.S. policy on Taiwan had not changed after President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the United States would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held U.S. position of “strategic ambiguity.”
In an interview aired by ABC News on Thursday, Biden was asked about the effects of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and responses in Chinese media telling Taiwan this showed Washington could not be relied on to come to its defense.
Biden replied that Taiwan, South Korea and NATO were fundamentally different situations to Afghanistan and appeared to lump Taiwan together with countries to which Washington has explicit defense commitments.
“They are … entities we’ve made agreements with based on not a civil war they’re having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doing bad things to them,” he said.
“We have made - kept every commitment. We made a sacred commitment to Article 5 that if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we would respond. Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with - Taiwan. It’s not even comparable to talk about that.”
A senior Biden administration official said U.S. “policy with regard to Taiwan has not changed” and analysts said it appeared that Biden had misspoken.
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said they had “noted” Biden’s comments, and thanked his administration for “continuing to take practical actions” to show the rock solid U.S. commitment to Taiwan, like arms sales.
While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
Story continues
Article 5 is a NATO agreement that states that an attack on one member of the alliance is viewed as an attack on all.
South Korea is also a U.S. treaty ally with a mutual defense agreement, but U.S. relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan have been unofficial since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.
Some prominent U.S. academics and others have argued Washington should give Taiwan a more explicit security guarantee in light of increasing military pressure from Beijing, but Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy coordinator, Kurt Campbell, has appeared to reject this, saying in May there were “significant downsides” to such an approach.
Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, called Biden’s apparent mischaracterization “unfortunate.”
“The U.S. had an Article 5 commitment to Taiwan from 1954 to 1979. The Biden administration isn’t considering returning to that commitment, as indicated by public statements by Kurt Campbell.”
This week, Republican Senator John Cornyn erroneously said on Twitter that the United States has 30,000 troops in Taiwan, which has not been the case since before 1979.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan was asked about Taiwan this week and called it a “fundamentally different question in a different context” to Afghanistan.
“We believe our commitment to Taiwan … remains as strong as it’s ever been,” he said, without specifying what the commitment was. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis)