Taiwan promised US forces if invaded

WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden said US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement so far on the issue, and comments sure to anger Beijing.

Asked in a CBS 60 Minutes interview broadcast yesterday whether US forces would defend the democratically governed island claimed by China, he replied: ‘‘Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack’’.

Asked to clarify if he meant that, unlike in Ukraine, US forces — American men and women — would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied: ‘‘Yes’’.

The interview was just the latest time that Biden has appeared to go beyond longstanding stated US policy on Taiwan, but his statement was clearer than previous ones about committing US troops to the defend the island.

The United States has long stuck to a policy of ‘‘strategic ambiguity’’ and not making clear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.

Asked to comment, a White House spokesman said US policy towards Taiwan had not changed.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed its thanks to Biden for his reaffirming of the ‘‘US government’s rocksolid security commitment to Taiwan’’.

The CBS interview with Biden was conducted last week. In it, Biden reiterated the US did not support Taiwanese independence and remained committed to a ‘‘OneChina’’ policy in which Washington officially recognises Beijing not Taipei.

The Chinese foreign ministry last night said China had lodged ``stern representations'' with the US. — Reuters