Joe Biden warns that United States will militarily defend Taiwan in event of an invasion by China

The American president also announced the launch of a new economic partnership in Asia-Pacific with 13 first participating countries, including the United States and Japan but not China.

Le Monde with AFP

US President Joe Biden warned, on Monday, May 23 in Tokyo, that the United States would militarily defend Taiwan if Beijing invaded the autonomous island, warning that China “flirts with danger”. “This is the commitment we have made,” said Mr. Biden when he was asked if the United States would intervene militarily against a Chinese attempt to seize this territory by force:

“We agreed with the policy of a single China, we signed it (…) but the idea that [Taiwan] could be taken by force is simply not appropriate.”

The American president then stressed that Russia 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 a question of Ukraine,” said Mr. Biden. Because if “the sanctions were not maintained in many respects, then what signal would it send to China on the cost of an attempted Taiwan by force?”, He asked.

A new economic partnership in Asia-Pacific

Japan and the United States “will monitor the recent activities of the Chinese navy, as well as the movements linked to the joint exercises of China and Russia,” said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, After meeting the American president.

“We firmly oppose attempts to change the status quo by force at the Eastern China Sea and in the South China Sea,” said Kishida at a press conference. “In addition, we have agreed to take care of various questions related to China, including that of human rights,” he added.

m. Biden has also announced the launch of a new economic partnership in Asia-Pacific with 13 first participating countries, including the United States and Japan but not China, which sees this project with a bad eye.

The economic framework for Indo-Pacific (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, IPEF) is not a free trade agreement, but provides more integration between its member countries in four key areas: the economy digital, supply chains, green energies and the fight against corruption. The American president, however, said he was planning to raise pricing barriers for China, stressing that they had not been imposed by his administration.

/Media reports.