President Joe Biden's controversial statement that Washington would defend Taiwan “militarily” in the event of Beijing attempting to re-unify with the self-governed Chinese province “marks a shift” in US’ policy, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told Indian news broadcaster WION.
The Indian channel's interview with Abe is yet to be aired, but Abe’s response to the question on Taiwan was shared in a social media post.
The former Japanese PM also said that Biden's remark on Taiwan was "intentional".
At a press conference with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Monday, Biden was asked if he was “willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, if it comes to that”.
“Yes,” the US President replied.
“That’s the commitment we made,” Biden remarked.
“Look, here’s the situation: We agree with the One China policy; we’ve signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there. But the idea that — that it can be taken by force — just taken by force — is just not a — is just not appropriate,” the US President stated while trying to justify his response.
Biden also reckoned that a Chinese military attempt to retake Taiwan would “dislocate” the entire region.
Hours after Biden’s comments, Beijing expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to his remarks.
“No one should underestimate the strong resolve, determination and capability of the Chinese people in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. No one should stand in opposition to the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated, reacting angrily to Biden's statement.
“China will take firm actions to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests. We mean what we say,” Wang stated, as he urged Biden to respect commitments made by Washington in the “three China-US joint communiqués”.
Later, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin clarified during a briefing at the Pentagon that “our One China policy has not changed”.
“He (Biden) reiterated that policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also highlighted our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself. So again, our policy has not changed,” Austin stated, when asked to comment on Biden’s remarks about Taiwan earlier in the day.
It isn’t the first time that Biden has said that “we have a commitment” to defend Taiwan, having made the same statement at a town hall meeting last October.
However, a month later, the US President reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the "One-China policy”, during a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the call, Xi had told Biden that supporting Taiwan's "independence" was akin to "playing with fire".
The three communiqués (1972, 1979, and 1982) or joint statements by the US and China form the bedrock of the formal relations between the two global powers.
The US ended formal relations with Taiwan in 1979, as stipulated in the second communiqué and the US Congress-ratified the Taiwan Relations Act that came into effect in 1979.
Since then, the US has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” towards Taiwan, and has supplied the island province with arms in order to defend itself in case of any military event. Beijing protests these arms transactions.
Taiwan has been governed separately from mainland China since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.