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President Biden said Thursday at a CNN town hall that the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack on the island, which was seen as a clear departure from Washington’s position of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to its military commitment to Taipei.
An audience member asked Biden about China. The first part of the question was if the U.S. could still compete militarily with Beijing, given that the Chinese military may have just fired off hypersonic missiles during tests over the summer. The next question was if the U.S. would fight for Taiwan.
He said yes to both questions.
The president made it clear that the U.S. military is still the envy of the world and then vowed that the military would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack.
Anderson Cooper, the moderator, had the president clarify that the U.S. would defend Taiwan, and the president confirmed his position again.
“Yes, we have a commitment to do that,” he said.
TREND FORECAST: The Trends Journal has been reporting extensively on China’s recent provocations near Taiwan and how the U.S. could be ensnared if a conflict did break out. (See “TAIWAN MILITARY RAMP-UP WILL NOT STOP CHINA,” “CHINA FLEXES MUSCLE ON TAIWAN. WHO WILL STOP THEM?” and “CHINA/TAIWAN TENSIONS AT ALL-TIME WORST, COMMANDER SAYS.”)
We also reported on new troubling developments when it comes to the latest Chinese advancements. (See “U.S. ALREADY LOST AI WAR WITH CHINA, PENTAGON’S FORMER SOFTWARE CHIEF SAYS”)
We have pointed to numerous articles that explain Taiwan is simply no match for the much larger and deadly Chinese military. China spends 25 times the amount Taipei does on its defenses. China also has a hundred times as many ground-force troops as the island.
China Laughs at Biden
China took Biden’s recent comments for just what they are: bluster. A top diplomat brushed off the remarks and said there is “no room for compromise” on its territorial claims on the island.
“When it comes to issues related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for China to compromise or make concessions, and no one should underestimate the strong determination, firm will and strong ability of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told the Associated Press.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Friday that the president was not announcing any change in policy and insisted that the U.S. remains guided by the Taiwan Relations Act for 1979, which says Washington is committed to providing Taipei with arms for its defense. It is under the act that the U.S. described its relationship as that of “strategic ambiguity.”
In August, Biden made similar comments in an interview with ABC News, when he was asked about his decision to leave Afghanistan, and if he felt that he should reassure the U.S.’s commitment in other regions, like Taiwan.
“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,” Biden said.
A senior administration official told Reuters at the time that the U.S.’s posture has not changed despite the president’s comment.
TRENDPOST: Cue the war hawks.
WSWS.org pointed out last week that John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser who never saw a war he didn’t like, penned a column in The Wall Street Journal calling on the Biden administration to go even further and call Taiwan a “sovereign, self-governing country.”
The U.S., with the largest military in the world, has not won a war since World War II and cannot even win against third-world nations, such as Afghanistan, and Bolton wants to pick a fight with Beijing.
His book may be titled “The Room Where it Happened,” but this man should be far away from any room where anything happens.
The New York Times pointed out that it was 20 years ago that then-Sen. Biden told President George W. Bush that “words matter” after Bush said he would do “whatever it took” to defend Taiwan.
The paper reported: “When, a few hours later, the Bush White House did what the current White House did, saying that nothing had changed, Biden wrote an opinion column correcting him, noting that “the United States has not been obligated to defend Taiwan.”’
Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote in April that Taiwanese officials have told him that they expect American support even if their behavior, such as a declaration of independence, triggered Chinese action.
“And Beijing officials consistently express skepticism that Washington would act against its own interest, risking, as one Chinese general put it, Los Angeles for Taipei,” he wrote.
Again, we maintain our forecast that China will take over Taiwan and no one will stop them.