US should pledge to defend TaiwanBy Joseph BoscoUS President Joe Biden has just become the third president in 20 years to declare or strongly imply that the US would defend Taiwan against an attack from China. In April 2001, then-US president George W. Bush answered affirmatively when asked whether the US would protect Taiwan. Two weeks before,Biden had reported on his 90-minute telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and made this curious statement: “I’ve spoken with Xi about Taiwan. The obvious follow-up question is this: Did Washington decide secretly at some point that it would defend Taiwan if China attacks — and even made that clear privately to Beijing, as Trump’s tone implied? Biden needs to proceed with the Taiwan Representative Office name change, and to invite Taiwan to the Summit for Democracy, the RIMPAC naval exercises next year, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief joint exercises.

Source: Taipei Times November 15, 2021 22:05 UTC