Two Versions in One Day: Biden Clarifies Non-Support for Taiwan Independence
United Daily News, November 18, 2021
At the first virtual meeting between President Joe Biden of the United States and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr. Xi warned Taiwan and the United States not to play with fire. President Biden reiterated that the United States opposes unilateral change of the status quo or behavior which would undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. On November 16, President Biden told the media that the United States is not going to change its policy at all. The United States does not encourage independence. Rather, the United States is encouraging Taiwan to do exactly what the Taiwan Relations Act requires.
According to the White House readout, which commented on the Taiwan issue, President Biden insisted that U.S. policy is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Communiques, and the Six Assurances and opposes unilateral change of the status quo or behavior which would undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. According to report by the Xinhua News Agency, Mr. Xi stated that the tension in Taiwan Strait is caused by Taiwan's endeavors to use the United States to achieve independence, while there are people in the United States who try to "use Taiwan to contain China." Mr. Xi further warned that "this trend is very dangerous as those who play with fire will perish by fire. If supporters of Taiwan Independence broke the red line, the mainland would take drastic measures.
On November 16, when President Biden was promoting his recently signed infrastructure law in New Hampshire, he responded to media's question on the Biden-Xi meeting and indicated that, on the Taiwan issue, the United States supports Taiwan Relations Act. But President Biden also stated that Taiwan is “independent” and makes its own decisions.
President Biden's comment that may acknowledge Taiwan's independence immediately raised lots of discussions. So before boarding the Air Force one, Biden clarified to the media that the United States is not going to change its policy at all.
President Biden stated that Taiwan has to decide, not the United States. The United States is not encouraging independence but encouraging it to do what the Taiwan Relations Act requires.
After the administration of President Jimmy Carter severed diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan in 1979, the Congress passed the “Taiwan Relations Act" to regulate the exchanges between the United States and Taiwan on security, arms sale and peoples.
Section II of the Taiwan Relations Act stipulates that the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means. Any effort to determine Taiwan’s future by other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes, is a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States. The provisions also require the United States to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character in order to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion.
In a Brookings Institution webinar on November 16, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that President Biden and Mr. Xi had agreed that the two countries would begin discussions on strategic stability. The United States proposed the need for a strategic stability set of conversations that cut across security, technology and diplomacy, to make sure that competitions between the United States and China will not veer off to conflict.