Biden At Odds With White House Over Defending Taiwan In Case of Invasion

It appears that US President Joe Biden and the White House are not on the same page over the potential role of the US in case an invasion of Taiwan by mainland China.

Speaking to CBS' "60 Minutes," Biden said the US would come to Taiwan's defense "if in fact there was an unprecedented attack."

Asked if US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, Biden answered in the affirmative.

But CBS News reported that a White House official said that the US maintains "strategic ambiguity" as to whether US forces would help defend Taiwan if China attacks the self-governing democracy.

However, the Taiwan Relations Act — enacted the same year the US established diplomatic ties with Beijing and severed ties with Taiwan — requires the US to equip the island to defend itself.

Since 1979, US policy recognizes Taiwan as part of China and has remained silent for years on whether the US military would actually defend the island.

Biden said he agrees with this policy and emphasized that the US is not encouraging Taipei to become independent from Beijing.

"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," he said.

Earlier this month, the State Department announced a $1.1 billion sale of military equipment for Taiwan.

State Department Spokesperson Vedan Patel said they have been working on the said package for a long time as the US “expected it would be needed as China increased its pressure on Taiwan.”

"We have and we will continue to be responsible, steady, and resolute and keep our lines of communication open with Beijing, but also continue to support Taiwan inconsistent—in ways that are consistent with our policy," Patel said.

But Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu opposed such actions and expressed on Twitter that it sends off “wrong signals” on Taiwan’s independence and could jeopardizing the China-US relationship.