United States President Joe Biden has declared that US would come to Taiwan’s aid, which continues to face military and economic pressure from China, with the latter warning US to tread carefully in the matter.
In a townhall hosted by CNN, President Biden said that it was Washington’s duty to stand next to Taiwan if it faced threats by China. Biden added that he didn’t want a ‘cold war’ with China, but the country should know that US would not look the other way if China was to attack Taiwan. He added that Russia and China already knew that US military was the mightiest in the world.
Responding to President Biden’s statements, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that US should be careful in making statements related to China’s affairs, while reaffirming that Taiwan was a part of China. Wang said that no one should underestimate China’s sovereignty as the country would make ‘no concessions’ when it came to interference its internal affairs. Wang added that US should not make statements that could encourage separatist forces in Taiwan and therefore potentially disturb peace between them.
Caught in the middle, Taiwan has meanwhile said that it would not bow down to China as the US evidentially stood by the island and its people. A spokesperson for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has said that Taiwan would stand tall against external threats and collaborate with countries who had ‘similar values’ to foster peace in the region.
China and Taiwan have had rocky relations since the 1949 civil war that saw the latter split from the former. Although the US cut of ties with Taipei by closing its embassy in the capital city to formally recognize the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in 1979, it was bound by law to help Taiwan defend itself.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which is a non-diplomatic agreement between Taiwan and US, the latter would provide defense equipment to the former in the event of an attack by the PRC. The act does not however ensure US would intervene militarily and the assistance provided would be left to the discretion of the president.
In the wake of President Biden’s statement, the White House has clarified that it would continue to maintain its policy on Taiwan, which has long been informally called ‘strategic ambiguity’. Under the policy, US has been committed to ensuring that Taiwan doesn’t get claimed by PRC, while at the same time Taiwan does not declare independence unilaterally.
