US will defend Taiwan if China tries to take control: Biden
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US President Joe Biden said his government will defend Taiwan military if China attempts to forcibly take control. He said China is "flirting with danger".
He was answering the question if the US would intervene if Beijing attacked Taiwan in order to take control of the smaller nation. Biden responded by saying that is the commitment the US made. He added that the US agreed with the One China policy and signed it. But the idea that it can be taken by force is not appropriate, reported AFP.
The One China policy refers to an American policy recognising the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. It states that there is only one sovereign state under the name China and the PRC is the sole legitimate government. The policy acknowledges Taiwan is part of China but does not endorse it.
The US State Department recently deleted the sentence 'Taiwan is part of China' from its website after an update. It now states: "as a leading democracy and a technological powerhouse, Taiwan is a key US partner in the Indo-Pacific".
The claim of two nations called China stemmed from the conflicts following the Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (KMT) retreated to Taiwan after being defeated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The KMT was the ruling government at the time.
The CCP established the People's Republic of China in mainland China. But, the ROC (Republic of China) party led by the KMT established rule over Taiwan and several nearby islands. Both governments continued to claim legitimacy as the government of all of China.
The international community initially recognised the split. But the CCP in mainland China achieved international recognition in the 1970s. Biden's statement about backing Taiwan has received support from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He said Tokyo is against any unilateral attempt to change the status quo.
China has been claiming the four-nation-group's (India, US, Japan, and Australia) Quad Summit and their Indo-Pacific strategy will destroy peace in the region. Biden had also criticised China for its hostile behaviour in the Indo-Pacific.
