President Biden said the U.S. would get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China tries to take it by force, issuing a stark warning to Beijing during his first trip to Asia as commander in chief.
“Yes. That’s the commitment we made,” Mr. Biden said on Monday in response to a question from a reporter about whether he was willing to get involved militarily if Taiwan came under threat.
Mr. Biden stressed that the U.S. remains committed to the bedrock “One China policy,” which recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate government of China and acknowledges, but doesn’t endorse, Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a part of China. But the president said that policy doesn’t give China the right to forcefully take over Taiwan.
“We agree with the One China policy and all the attendant agreements we made. But the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, would just not be appropriate,” Mr. Biden said. “It would dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine. So, the burden is even stronger.”
The U.S. president played down the possibility that China will try to take Taiwan.
“My expectation is that it will not happen,” Mr. Biden said, adding that it’s important for world leaders to send a strong message that there will be consequences if Beijing takes such action.
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