Biden’s latest Taiwan gaffe stokes tensions with Beijing

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden is seeking to show US resolve against China, yet an ill-timed gaffe on Taiwan risks undermining his bid to curb Beijing’s growing influence over the region.
Whether intentional or not, Biden provoked China with a vow to defend Taiwan militarily. After saying that US policy on Taiwan “had not changed at all” during a news conference in Tokyo, he then answered “yes” when asked if the US would act “militarily” to defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack.
“It’s a commitment we made,” Biden added.
White House officials later walked back the remark, saying the president was only promising US aid to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of hostilities. That would be akin to what the US is doing in Ukraine, where Biden has vowed not to send troops.
“The policy has not changed at all, and I stated that when I made my statement,” Biden said when pressed by reporters to clarify the US position.
The president’s remark nonetheless roiled Biden’s first trip to Asia since taking office and upstaged his roll-out of a new strategic framework for the region. It also cast new light on Washington’s decades-old approach of “strategic ambiguity” about whether US forces would defend Taiwan against China, while also adopting a “One China” policy under which Taiwan isn’t recognised as an independent country.
It’s a complicated policy, criticised both by Beijing and some US lawmakers, that has tripped up Biden and some of his predecessors in the past.
Biden has made similar missteps on Taiwan at least twice as president, but in making the remark so close to Chinese territory and in the context of the Ukraine war, the impact was amplified.
Although the latest episode
is unlikely to fundamentally alter the US-China relationship, it highlights the current tension around Taiwan at a time when Chinese officials have expressed concern about American efforts to box in their country. And Biden’s remark also opened him to criticism by domestic political opponents who have sought to portray the president, 79, as infirm and unfit for the job.
Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said that Biden’s comments represented a shift towards “strategic clarity” on Taiwan and that the president should outline a clear US commitment to defend the island “in clear, deliberate remarks from a prepared text.”
The US’s policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan is intended to minimise the risk of a direct military confrontation with China.