Biden Caught Aides ‘Off Guard’ by Saying U.S. Would Militarily Intervene if China Invades Taiwan: CNN Reports
President Joe Biden caught his administration officials by surprise by saying that the United States would militarily defend Taiwan if China tries to seize the island nation by force. This assessment came from CNN’s John Berman early Monday morning.
Biden held a news conference in Japan on Monday during his diplomatic trip to Asia, and as he took questions, a reporter said “you didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?”
“Yes,” Biden answered. “We agree with the One China policy. We signed onto it and all the attendant agreements made from there. But the idea that [Taiwan] can be taken by force, it’s just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.”
Biden’s remarks about Taiwan have been the subject of repeated clarification in the past, but as Berman addressed the news at the start of New Day, he remarked on how the U.S. observes a policy of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to China’s claim that Taiwan is part of their sovereign territory.
“The comments this morning seem a little less ambiguous,” Berman said. “As to whether they were strategic, CNN has learned the president’s comments caught his top aides off guard. They are already issuing some clarifications this morning. Beijing issued a response a short time ago as well.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak obtained a statement from the White House insisting that the U.S. policy “has not changed.”
“He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) May 23, 2022
The White House’s attempt to dial back Biden’s statement is reminiscent of what happened nearly 2 months ago when the president was condemning Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden passionately stressed that the Russian leader “cannot remain in power,” and the White House subsequently insisted Biden was not proposing a “regime change” for Russia.
Watch above, via CNN.
