US stance on Taiwan unchanged despite Biden comment: Official

WASHINGTON/BEIJING • A senior Biden administration official has said that US policy on Taiwan had not changed, after President Joe Biden appeared to suggest that the United States would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held US position of "strategic ambiguity".

In an interview aired by ABC News on Thursday, Mr Biden was asked about the effects of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and responses in Chinese media telling Taiwan this showed Washington could not be relied on to come to its defence.

Mr Biden replied that Taiwan, South Korea and Nato were fundamentally different situations from Afghanistan, and appeared to lump Taiwan together with countries to which Washington has explicit defence commitments.

"They are... entities we've made agreements with based on not a civil war they're having on that island or in South Korea, but on an agreement where they have a unity government that, in fact, is trying to keep bad guys from doing bad things to them," Mr Biden said.

"We have made (and) 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 that."

Article 5 is a Nato agreement that states that an attack on one member of the alliance is viewed as an attack on all.

A senior Biden administration official said US "policy with regard to Taiwan has not changed" and analysts said it appeared that Mr Biden had misspoken.

In response, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said they had "noted" Mr Biden's comments, and thanked his administration for "continuing to take practical actions" to show the rock-solid US commitment to Taiwan, like arms sales.

Asked about Mr Biden's comments, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing yesterday that Taiwan was an inalienable part of Chinese territory. "No one should underestimate the Chinese people's resolve, determination and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

In an editorial yesterday, China's Global Times slammed Mr Biden, saying that his words were empty and reckless. "No matter the reasons why Biden made such a remark, it's empty talk without any real strategic determination and actual military preparation," the editorial said, adding that China will never accept Mr Biden's threat.

"If the Biden administration insists on the President's claims, breaking the status quo of the Taiwan Strait by shifting from 'strategic ambiguity' to making a clear statement of its defence of Taiwan, then it will have to prepare for much greater storms in the Strait," the nationalistic newspaper warned.

"The mainland will certainly make according adjustments to its Taiwan Strait strategy. The Strait will enter a new era which will see intensifying games."

The editorial also reiterated China's warning for Taiwan against secession, saying that the US would not defend the island. "If the Taiwan authorities lose their mind to cross the red line of the Anti-Secession Law at the instigation of the US, they will surely be sacrificed for US strategic interests," the editorial said.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary. While Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, it has long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

REUTERS