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Biden appears to threaten China militarily over Taiwan

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 30, 2018 shows Taiwanese soldiers staging an attack during an annual drill at a military base in the eastern city of Hualien. (Photo by Mandy CHENG / AFP)

The US says it will assist Chinese Taipei if a war breaks out with China. The comments have been met with condemnation from officials in Beijing who warned the US against any escalation of the already high tensions in their bilateral ties.

The United States and China have in recent months escalated their war of words. This time, China says its sovereignty is at risk, cautioning the US against sending the wrong signals.

We urge the US to strictly abide by the one China principle, and the three joint communiqués.

The US should act and speak cautiously on the Taiwan issue and refrain from sending wrong signals to separatist forces in Taiwan to avoid seriously damaging Sino-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman warned that his country has no room for compromise on issues involving its core interests, including its territorial integrity.

Wong also noted that Taipei is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the issue is purely a matter of Chinese internal affairs, and that Beijing won't allow any external interference.

He was responding to the comments US President Joe Biden made during a CNN town hall question and answer session.

I don't want a cold war with China, I just want to make China understand that we are not going to step back; we are not going to change any of our views.

US President, Joe Biden

So you are saying that, that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked?

Anderson Cooper, CNN

Yes, we have a commitment.

US President, Joe Biden

US contravenes its own China policy

What the United States says, the American President puts in the minds of the Taiwanese independence activists and independence politicians the idea that Taiwan could, for example, make a declaration of independence.

China would act on that and I don't know what the United States could on its own, on the terms of its own China policy since [sic] the last 50 years, should do or could do to prevent China from acting on it.

Jim Kavanaugh, Journalist

The US has recently deployed a fleet of B1 bombers and 200 airmen to its notorious base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the first such deployment to the island in 15 years.

The base at Diego Garcia has a dark history. The US has used the base to launch airstrikes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is said to have been used as a black site to interrogate and torture victims of the CIA.

China considers Taiwan as being a part of its territory, and has warned against any of its independence bids. Tensions escalated recently over Chinese military flights, as well as increased US military support for Taiwan.

Just two weeks ago, US media reported that American forces had been secretly training Taiwanese troops for months.

China has sovereignty over Chinese Taipei and under the One China policy, almost all countries recognize that sovereignty.

The US also recognizes Chinese sovereignty over the island, but has long courted Taipei in an attempt to unnerve Beijing. The United States, which backs Taipei's separatist president, continues to sell weapons to the island in defiance of Beijing and in blatant violation of its own official policy.

This is what they call a strategic ambiguity in American policy, they'd like to keep Taiwan in some kind of de facto independent status, but they have recognized that it's one country and Taiwan is a part of China.

Jim Kavanaugh, Journalist

China has also denounced the recently clinched AUKUS pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US, under which the trio was expected to make a fleet of nuclear powered submarines.

Beijing argues that the pact threatens regional stability and poses nuclear proliferation risks.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to re engage with the international community, marking a departure from his predecessor Donald Trump's foreign policy.

In the case of China, however, it appears that he is following in the footsteps of Donald Trump and his America first stance against Beijing.

 


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