Taiwan Thanks Joe Biden for Supportive Comments White House Walked Back

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Monday extending its “sincere appreciation” to President Joe Biden for stating in a CBS News interview this weekend he would send U.S. troops to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion – a promise the White House immediately walked back in a statement to the broadcaster following the interview.

The interview is at least the fourth time in Biden’s presidency that he has claimed Washington as a “commitment” to defending Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, including with the use of American troops – which is not an accurate representation of American foreign policy.

Each time, White House spokespeople have rapidly issued statements insisting that America’s Taiwan policy has not changed from its status quo, which does not contain a military alliance with Taiwan.

America does not recognize the nation of Taiwan as a country and has no formal military treaties with it, nor has it otherwise committed to a military alliance with Taiwan.

While ceding to China its false claim that Taiwan is not a country, Washington does not recognize Taiwan as a province of China, as Beijing does, and maintains informal ties with its government that include military weapons sales.

Taipei nonetheless expressed gratitude to Biden for making the statements, which the White House appeared to invalidate immediately after they were broadcast.

Watch below as President Biden backs Taiwan in the event of an “unprecedented attack”:

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) extends its sincere appreciation to President Biden for once again emphasizing the staunch and rock-solid US security commitment to Taiwan,” the government of President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday.

“Since taking office, President Biden has frequently stressed the U.S. security commitment to Taiwan,” the statement continued. “Since August, following China’s baseless escalation of provocative military activities in the Taiwan Strait, the Biden administration has repeatedly conveyed support for Taiwan through public statements and concrete actions.”

The Foreign Affairs Ministry vowed to “continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and stand firm against authoritarian expansion and aggression,” as well as “deepen the close Taiwan-US security partnership and strengthen cooperation with like-minded nations even further.”

The remarks followed Biden’s response to a question in the Sunday interview with CBS journalist Scott Pelley regarding Taiwan.

Asked what he believed Chinese dictator should know about his commitment to Taiwan, the president said, “there’s one China policy, and Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving– we’re not encouraging their being independent. We’re not– that– that’s their decision.”

Asked if he would deploy troops to defend Taiwan from China, Biden said, “yes, if it fact there was an unprecedented attack.”

“After the interview, a White House official said U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed,” CBS News’ report on the interview noted. Currently, U.S. policy does not require troop deployment to defend Taiwan, meaning the White House official essentially undid Biden’s commitment.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry nonetheless issued remarks on Monday during its regular press briefing stating it “deplores and firmly opposes” Biden’s remarks. Spokeswoman Mao Ning claimed that Beijing had lodged “stern representations with the U.S.” over the interview, without elaborating.

Biden has falling into a similar controversy on three other occasions in his short presidency so far. In May, Biden responded when asked if Washington would use military force to defend Taiwan from China, “yes, that’s the commitment we made.”

“As the President said, our policy has not changed. He reiterated our One China policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” a White House statement published immediately after his remarks claimed.

In October 2021, Biden was similarly asked at a CNN event if he would deploy troops to Taiwan if China invaded and answered in nearly identical form: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” White House spokespeople also walked back that statement.

Prior to that town hall event, in August, Biden claimed to ABC News that America has a “sacred commitment” to defend Taiwan, comparing Washington’s military ties to the island nation to those with NATO. Unlike America’s informal ties with Taiwan, America is a member of the NATO alliance via treaty and mandated by international law to use military force to defend its members.

“The U.S. defence relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act. We will uphold our commitment under the act, we will continue to support Taiwan’s self-defence, and we will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo,” a White House spokesperson said following the bizarre NATO remark.

Despite the consistent record of unnamed White House officials contradicting Biden’s public remarks in defense of Taiwan, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell claimed at a forum on Monday that, this time, Biden’s own office was not contradicting him.

“I do not believe that it is appropriate to call the remarks that came from the White House today as walking back the president’s remarks,” Campbell claimed. “The president’s remarks speak for themselves. I do think our policy has been consistent and is unchanged and will continue.”

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