Biden warns China against military action against Taiwan
US President Joe Biden warned China against military action against Taiwan on Sunday as he addressed the press following the summit of seven leading industrialized democracies (G7) in Hiroshima, Japan.
There should be no unilateral change in the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, he said.
“There is a clear under- standing among most of our allies that in fact, if China acts unilaterally there will be a response,” Biden said.
He asserted that the US would continue to pursue a one-China policy, recognising Beijing as the legitimate government of China.
But Biden pointed out that after that, neither China nor Taiwan could proceed independently. “It needs to be a mutually agreed outcome.”
The US also does not expect Taiwan to declare independence on its own, the US president said.
Beijing regards the democratic island republic as part of China while Taiwan has had an independent government for more than 70 years.
Tensions have risen recently and Biden said the US
would continue to help Taiwan defend itself. He stressed that he saw no “inevitability” of war between China and the US or even Japan and South Korea.
In the frosty relationship with Beijing, Biden said there would be the beginning of a thaw “very soon,” without providing further details.
Relations cooled between Washington and Beijing after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over US territory and the subsequent cancellation of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
Blinken is now trying to rearrange the visit but Beijing is not engaging in any attempts at contact, according to reports.