Biden vows to defend Taiwan militarily if invaded by China

In a news conference Monday, Biden said the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if it came under attack by China, despite the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity.” Later, his administration announced the outlines of a new trade agreement that is meant to strengthen U.S. economic ties with other nations in the Indo-Pacific.

Later this week, Biden will participate in a meeting of the Quad, the partnership made up of the United States, India, Japan and Australia that is in part meant to counter China’s power globally.c

On Taiwan, a White House official walked back Biden’s remarks almost immediately, saying Biden simply had reemphasized a pledge made through a 1979 law that calls on the United States to provide Taiwan with the military means for self-defense. The United States retains a policy of strategic ambiguity toward the island, meaning it is deliberately unclear on what it would do when it comes to the issue of defending Taiwan.

But taken together, Monday’s remarks underscored the Biden administration’s aggressive strategy to blunt the rising influence of China — as the president drew parallels between a potential China-Taiwan conflict and the war spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia has to pay a long-term price for that in terms of the sanctions that have been imposed,” Biden said during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at Akasaka Palace. “If in fact there’s a rapprochement met between … the Ukrainians and Russia, and these sanctions are not continued to be sustained in many ways, then what signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting — attempting — to take Taiwan by force?”

Though the president said he did not expect such an invasion, Biden said China was “already flirting with danger” and said despite the United States’ “one China” policy, “that does not mean that China has the … jurisdiction to go in and use force to take over Taiwan.”

“The idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force is just not — it’s just not appropriate,” Biden said. “It would dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.”

At Monday’s summit, Biden and Kishida reinforced their commitment to the alliance and their cooperation on responding to the Russian war. Kishida, elected prime minister in the fall, has received high marks at home for his decisions — 71.2 percent of the public supports his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a survey released Sunday by Kyodo News, a Japanese outlet.

The two countries also agreed to work closely to respond to China’s rise.

Part of that strategy includes the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the contours of a new trade agreement that is designed to be an economic bulwark against China. The administration says it improves on the political and substantive shortcomings of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.

The dozen countries in the new pact with the United States are Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The countries account for 40 percent of global gross domestic product, according to the administration.

“It is by any account the most significant international economic engagement that the United States has ever had in this region,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.

Administration officials have also pointed to economic data showing the U.S. economy had grown faster than China’s for the first time in four decades as proof that partnering with the United States would be a more alluring option for other Indo-Pacific nations.

“Our view is that this is not about a zero-sum game with China,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. “It’s not about forcing countries to choose. But it is about offering a value proposition that we think countries are taking extremely seriously.”

But many officials throughout Asia, including in Japan, are wary of the U.S. rollout of its new economic proposal. Japanese officials have said they are relieved to see the United States reassert itself economically in the Indo-Pacific region but remain frustrated about President Donald Trump’s 2017 pullout from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.