{"id":670345,"date":"2022-05-25T04:34:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T04:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=129899"},"modified":"2022-05-25T04:34:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T04:34:45","slug":"biden-in-tokyo-killing-strategic-ambiguity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/05\/25\/biden-in-tokyo-killing-strategic-ambiguity\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden in Tokyo: Killing Strategic Ambiguity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could it have been just another case of bumbling poor judgment, the mind softened as the mouth opened?\u00a0 A question was put<\/a> to US President Joe Biden, visiting Tokyo and standing beside Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: \u201cYou didn\u2019t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons.\u00a0 Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?\u201d\u00a0 The answer: \u201cYes.\u00a0 That\u2019s a commitment we made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden was again flatly committing the US to a conflict over Taiwan should China deploy its forces.\u00a0 He has done so on two previous occasions<\/a>, showing either a degree of ignorance, or a willingness to throw caution to the wind.\u00a0 The first took place during an interview with ABC News in August, when he equated Taiwan\u2019s status to those of other allies such as South Korea.\u00a0 The second, in a CNN town hall, took place in October, when he stated that the US had \u201ca commitment to do that\u201d.<\/p>\n

In doing so a third time, he was helping no one in particular, and taking the hammer to the strategic ambiguity that has marked US-Taiwan policy for decades.\u00a0 The only thing that could have been taken away from it is a reminder to Beijing that they are not facing a cautious superpower steered by a sage, but a government not unwilling to shed blood over Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Biden has expressed this view before, and grates against a policy Washington has had for 43 years.\u00a0 It is a policy characterised by two key understandings.\u00a0 The first is the One China policy, which the Biden administration affirmed in Tokyo.\u00a0 Beijing, accordingly, remains the sole legitimate authority representing China.<\/p>\n

The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 is the other pillar that guides US policy towards Taiwan.\u00a0 The Act declares it the policy<\/a> of the United States \u201cto preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan, as well as the people of the China mainland and all other people in the Western Pacific area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Act facilitates the provision of arms to Taiwan \u201cof a defensive character\u201d and maintains \u201cthe capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan.\u201d\u00a0 It does not impose an obligation on the US to intervene militarily in the event of an attack, or to compel the use of forces in defence of the island.<\/p>\n

The first pertinent question was whether an actual<\/em> change had been heralded in Tokyo.\u00a0 The National Review<\/em> certainly<\/a> thought so.\u00a0 \u201cBiden\u2019s remarks signal a big shift in US foreign policy regarding Taiwan.\u201d\u00a0 The New York Times<\/em> also suggested<\/a> that, unlike his previous, seemingly incautious remarks on the subject, this could not be treated as a simple gaffe.\u00a0 Sebastian Smith, White House correspondent for Agence France-Presse, thought<\/a> that Biden\u2019s response \u201creally raised the adrenaline levels in that palace briefing room\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was overjoyed, expressing<\/a> \u201csincere welcome and gratitude to President Biden of the United States for reiterating its rock solid commitment to Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Biden was having a bit each way<\/a>, suggesting that strategic ambiguity was still being retained in some modest form.\u00a0 \u201cWe agree with the One China policy and all the attendant agreements we made.\u00a0 But the idea that it can be taken by force, would just not be appropriate.\u201d\u00a0 His Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin was even more adamant that there had been no change to speak of on the part of the president.\u00a0 \u201cAs the president said, our One China policy has not changed,\u201d he stated<\/a> at the Pentagon.\u00a0 \u201cHe reiterated that policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.\u00a0 He also highlighted our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself.\u00a0 So, again, our policy has not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

On being asked by a journalist what potential risks would rise as part of a US military defence of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was unwilling<\/a> to elucidate.\u00a0 A \u201cvariety of contingency plans\u201d were held by the military applicable to the Pacific, Europe \u201cand elsewhere\u201d, all classified.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it would be very inappropriate for me on a microphone to discuss the risk associated with those plans relative to anything with respect to Taiwan or anywhere else in the Pacific.\u201d\u00a0 Reassuring.<\/p>\n

As often tends to come to pass, when the potential for war lurks in cupboards and around corners, there are those less than unwilling to repel it.\u00a0 The chance to exercise muscle, especially indulged vicariously, brings out the inner war monger.\u00a0 Bret Stephens uses the New York Times<\/em> to promote<\/a> the popular view held by many in the US and amongst its allies that Biden was quite right not to stick to \u201cdiplomatic formulas of a now-dead status quo\u201d.\u00a0 President Xi Jinping, that sly devil, had \u201cchanged the rules of the game\u201d by crushing protests in Hong Kong, repudiating the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d formula and blithely ignored the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on Chinese claims on the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

Stephens sees opportunity in this statement from Biden, a thankful slaying of ambiguity.\u00a0 For one, the US can sell more arms to Taiwan while incorporating Taipei into its broader strategic approach.\u00a0 The administration should also convince Taipei to increase its \u201cscandalously low\u201d military budget.\u00a0 Washington, for its part, can increase the small component of US Special Operations and Marine personnel already deployed to train local forces.\u00a0 Biden\u2019s stumble, in short, was a shift; and the shift moves one step closer to inciting war.<\/p>The post Biden in Tokyo: Killing Strategic Ambiguity<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Could it have been just another case of bumbling poor judgment, the mind softened as the mouth opened?\u00a0 A question was put to US President Joe Biden, visiting Tokyo and standing beside Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: \u201cYou didn\u2019t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons.\u00a0 Are you willing to [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post Biden in Tokyo: Killing Strategic Ambiguity<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,51,817],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670346,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670345\/revisions\/670346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}