Joe Biden’s first official visit to Asia as president has two objectives: to show the intensity of relations between the United States and its allies in the region, and Washington’s determination to counter Chinese ambitions, including military. It is in this perspective that the remarks made by the American president, Monday, May 23 in Tokyo, must be understood.
Arriving in Japan on Sunday after a first stop in South Korea, Joe Biden was asked about Taiwan during a press conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He expressed the will of the United States to defend the island in the event of Chinese aggression. “This is the commitment we have made”, he said. “China has no room for compromise or concessions” when it comes to its territorial integrity and sovereignty, reacted the spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin.
Joe Biden’s remarks are not a gaffe or an excess of language, but rather a desire on the part of the administration to express its intentions more clearly, for two reasons. On the one hand, the uninhibited and aggressive ambitions of China in the Indo-Pacific, behind the facade of speeches on a multipolar world and the virtues of cooperation. On the other, questions about the ability of the United States to deal with several simultaneous crises, given their political and military investment in support of Ukraine, against Russia. On this point, Joe Biden has also established a link between the crises, stressing the need for long and firm sanctions against Russia. Otherwise, he said, “What signal would this send to China about the cost of attempting to take Taiwan by force? »
“Similar action” to Ukraine
However, a White House adviser had to quickly clarify the president’s remarks, assuring that this was not a question of abandoning the strategic ambiguity practiced by the United States in this file. Washington therefore continues to place its arms deliveries to the island under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. An identical choreography took place in October 2021, when Joe Biden participated in a public program broadcast on the CNN channel. He also mentioned « l’engagement » to defend Taiwan in the event of Chinese aggression. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki then assured that US policy remained unchanged.
Joe Biden himself reiterated, in substance, the traditional line of the United States, consisting in accepting the idea of a single China. But the idea of taking Taiwan by force “would simply not be appropriate, said the president. This would lead to the dislocation of the entire region and would be an action similar to what happened in Ukraine. It is therefore an even heavier burden. » Joe Biden felt that China “already flirted with danger”, with military maneuvers near the island, which she considers a mere unruly province.
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