WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden made another in-depth remark on the Taiwan issue in an interview with CBS on Wednesday. News headlines proclaimed that the United States would defend Taiwan if China invaded.
More importantly, Biden could also be interpreted as a suggestion of a shift in US policy towards pro-Taiwan independence.
The White House is eager to explain that there will be no change in US policy following Biden’s remarks. But some experts have argued that Biden may have undermined, intentionally or unintentionally, the traditional US stance of not pledging for Taiwan’s independence.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has long pledged to bring Taiwan under his control and has threatened to use military force to do so. The Taiwanese government strongly opposed China’s claim that it is “a part of its territory”, but sent the message that Taiwan is already a de facto independent country and does not need to declare independence again.
US officials such as Secretary of State Brinken and Secretary of Defense Austin also pointed out this year that the US does not support Taiwan’s independence. This has been a meticulous US diplomatic effort in recent decades to dissuade Beijing from “unprovoked aggression” while persuading Taiwan not to formally declare independence. It was part of a “double deterrence” policy, as Washington puts it.
However, Biden said on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program, “Taiwan will make its own independence decisions. We as the United States are not pushing for Taiwan independence. This is their decision.”
Critics of Biden say Beijing will perceive him as tacitly in favor of Taiwan’s declaration of independence. He also pointed out that since China is likely to assume that the United States will move to defend Taiwan, the demerit of aggravating hostility from China would be greater than the effect of explicitly stating that it would defend Taiwan.
Craig Singleton, a Chinese expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said: “While claiming that US policy on Taiwan will not change, the US military has promised to defend Taiwan and Taiwan has the right to make independent decisions. . It’s a contradiction to admit that, “he said, adding that China was probably concerned that Biden suggested that Taiwan could decide for itself whether to become independent.
Some Republicans, including Senator Ben Sass, praised Mr. Biden’s remarks and accused the White House of backing down. On the other hand, a spokesperson for the National Security Council (NSC) insisted that the president directly affirm the long-held US unique China policy.
The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said it was “sincerely grateful” to Biden for his firm support for his remarks.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington warned that the United States should not send false signals to Taiwanese separatists and jeopardize the Taiwan Strait peace and China-US relations.
Jude Blanchett, a Chinese expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said Biden’s remarks confused rather than clarified US policy.
He added: “One of the issues where accurate language is most important is the issue of Taiwan policy. Our foreign policy is fundamentally in the direction of the United States defending Taiwan even as Taiwan declares independence.” , then it is a topic that deserves a more in-depth discussion than a simple interview. “
(Reporter by Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom)
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