During an interview on ’60 Minutes’ this week, Biden said that American soldiers would defend Taiwan from an invasion by China. It was shocking that Biden said this out loud, and the White House quickly walked back his comments.
Once again, we must ask. Who is in charge here?
CBS News reports:
Biden tells 60 Minutes U.S. troops would defend Taiwan, but White House says this is not official U.S. policyLast Thursday, the same day 60 Minutes spoke to President Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. There’s concern that Russia’s war in Ukraine could inspire China to attack the island of Taiwan. U.S. policy since 1979 has been to recognize Taiwan as part of China, but remain silent on whether the U.S. military would defend the democratic government there. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley asked Mr. Biden about that.”What should Chinese President Xi know about your commitment to Taiwan?” Pelley asked the president.”We agree with what we signed onto a long time ago,” the president said. “And that 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.””But would U.S. forces defend the island?” Pelley asked.”Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack,” Mr. Biden said.”So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir,” Pelley said, “U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?””Yes,” the president said.
Here’s the video:
This is not the first time Biden has contradicted his administration on Taiwan.
The New York Post reported in May:
White House walks back Biden Taiwan defense claim for third time in 9 monthsWho’s in charge here anyway?For the third time since August of last year, the White House walked back comments by President Biden on Monday implying the US would aid Taiwan if the island nation came under attack from China.During a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden was asked if the US would be prepared to defend Taiwan if such an attack took place.“Yes,” the president answered.“That’s the commitment we made. We agree with the ‘one China’ policy. We signed on to it,” Biden added. “All the attendant agreements [were] made from there. But the idea that that can be taken by force, just taken by force. It’s just not — it’s just not appropriate.”
It’s not just Taiwan. Who is running this show?
I sincerely hope young voters pay close attention to Biden’s Taiwan comments. Trump is a diplomatic dove compared to Democrat leaders, but Dems and the media have convinced them that Trump threatens their safety.
Featured image via Twitter video.
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