Washington backpedals after Biden’s support for Taiwan in case of Chinese attack

How would Washington react in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan? “US presidents have spent decades trying to avoid [la] question”, note The New York Times. By announcing Thursday, during an exchange with voters on CNN, that the United States was ready to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Beijing offensive, Joe Biden therefore triggered a wave of panic in the White House.

As recalled by South China Morning Post, these statements call into question “The so-called American policy of strategic ambiguity vis-à-vis Taiwan, which consists in not saying openly whether the United States would take military action in the event of an attack on the island ”. A strategy designed “Both to discourage Taiwan from taking unilateral steps to declare full independence and to deter Beijing from unilaterally seeking to annex the island”, explains the newspaper. China considers Taiwan, which it does not control, as one of its provinces awaiting reunification with the rest of the country.

The statements of the American president did not fail to provoke a strong reaction from Beijing, which called on Washington to “prudence”. In order to avoid escalating tensions, the White House was forced to back-pedal on Friday in order to “to fix” the situation, remark ABC News. His spokesperson Jen Psaki assured that American policy towards Taiwan had not changed. “We will respect our commitments to allow Taiwan to defend itself and we will continue to oppose everything
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Noémie Taylor-Rosner