China Warns U.S. ‘Playing With Fire’ on Taiwan

BEIJING (KI) -- China has warned that the United States is “playing with fire” after President Joe Biden said that Washington would respond militarily if Beijing used force to reclaim Taiwan.
The Chinese State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that the U.S. is “using the ‘Taiwan card’ to contain China, and will itself get burned”.
State outlet Xinhua cited the office’s spokesperson Zhu Fenglian as saying that he urges the U.S. to “stop any remarks or actions that violate” previously established principles between Beijing and Washington.
Speaking from Tokyo during a trip to Asia, Biden had answered with an unambiguous “yes” when asked by reporters whether the U.S. would “get involved militarily” in Taiwan if China takes action to annex it.
Pressed further about the apparent shift in U.S. policy, Biden said: “That’s the commitment we made.”
“Look, here’s the situation: We agree with the ‘One China’ policy; we’ve signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there,” the U.S. president added. “But the idea that it can be just taken by force is just not appropriate.”
During a town hall hosted by CNN last October, the U.S. president also said Washington would come to Taiwan’s defense if China tried to capture the island.
Beijing still claims Taiwan, whose formal name is the Republic of China, as a province and has not ruled out unifying the two sides by force.
Washington has warm ties with Taiwan, but it officially pursues a “One China” policy, which states there is a single China but does not define it.
Despite not having official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the U.S. describes the island as a “partner”. It also sells weapons to Taiwan and has strong trade relations with the island.
The relationship between Washington and Beijing has been stormy in the past few years as the U.S. has prioritized strategic competition with China in its foreign policy under former President Donald Trump, a position fully embraced by Biden.
On Monday, Pentagon officials in Washington were quick to stress that Biden’s comments do not signal a change in the U.S. position.
“As the president said, our ‘One China’ policy has not changed. He reiterated that policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin told reporters.