Biden meets Quad leaders in Tokyo, says no change in Taiwan policy

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TOKYO — President Biden stressed Tuesday that his policy toward Taiwan had not changed, one day after forcefully pledging — as he has done before — that the United States would come to the island’s defense if it came under assault by neighboring China.

At a meeting here of leaders from the United States, India, Australia and Japan, Biden was asked to elaborate on his unequivocal remarks this week that he would intervene militarily should Beijing try to take Taiwan by force. Those remarks were an apparent change to long-standing U.S. policy of deliberately staying unclear about its actions on such contingencies, a principle known as “strategic ambiguity.”

Asked Tuesday whether that policy was dead, Biden responded: “No.” He emphasized that position again when asked whether he would send U.S. troops to the self-governing island if China invaded.

“The policy has not changed at all,” Biden said. “I stated that when I made my statement yesterday.”

Both the president and a White House official had said Monday that Biden’s remarks did not represent a shift in U.S. policy, despite provoking immediate uproar from Beijing. This precise scenario — in which Biden vows to defend Taiwan militarily, and his aides walking it back — has played out before, such as during a CNN forum in October.

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His comments Tuesday came during a meeting of the Quad, a partnership of influential Indo-Pacific democracies widely seen as a counterweight to China. The four nations came together in 2004 for relief efforts following the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and had met sporadically since although the Biden administration has elevated its importance.

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