Biden says US would defend Taiwan against Chinese invasion

US President Joe Biden warned in Tokyo on Monday that the United States would militarily defend Taiwan if Beijing invades the self-governing island, warning that China is “flirting with danger”. “That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said when asked at a press conference if the United States would intervene militarily against a Chinese attempt to seize the territory by force. strength.

The Chinese “flirt with danger”

“We agreed with the one China policy, we signed it (…) but the idea that (Taiwan) can be taken by force is simply not appropriate”, a– he said. The Chinese are “already flirting with danger right now by flying so close (to Taiwan) and with all the maneuvers they’re doing,” Biden lamented.

The American president made these statements during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, with whom he spoke at length in Tokyo. Kishida said Japan and the United States “will monitor the recent activities of the Chinese navy, as well as movements related to joint exercises by China and Russia”.

“We strongly oppose attempts to change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and the South China Sea,” Kishida said. “In addition, we agreed to deal with various China-related issues together, including human rights,” he added.

Also referring to Russia, Joe Biden said it had to “pay a long-term price” for its “barbarism in Ukraine” in terms of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies. “It’s not just about Ukraine,” the US president said. Because if “the sanctions were not maintained in many respects, then what signal would that send to China about the cost of an attempt to take Taiwan by force?”

Saying he expected such an invasion to “not happen,” Biden said, however, that it would depend “on how forcefully the world makes China understand” the price it would have to pay. in case of invasion.