Los Angeles Times

Biden says US would intervene militarily in Taiwan if necessary

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a joint news conference following their bilateral summit at the Akasaka State Guest House on May 23, 2022, in Tokyo.

TOKYO — President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would intervene militarily in Taiwan if necessary, in an apparent shift away from the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” that quickly ratcheted up tensions with China.

The comment — not the first instance of Biden’s blunt rhetoric on the world stage causing confusion and geopolitical uncertainty — suggested a willingness by the president to go further in defending Taiwan than he has in aiding Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has received tens of billions of dollars in arms and intelligence assistance in the war launched by Russia but not the direct intervention of U.S. or North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops.

“You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons,” a reporter said to Biden during the president’s joint news conference in Tokyo

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