Biden administration adopts same hostile China policy as Trump
The administration of US President Joe Biden has adopted as aggressive a policy against China as that of former president Donald Trump, making allegations against Beijing’s purported “expansionist” intentions in East and Southeast Asia and supporting China’s rivals in territorial disputes.
The newly-arrived team at the White House has already underscored support for the US’s allies Japan, South Korea, and the self-ruled Chinese island of Taiwan through multiple calls and statements in just one week, signaling Washington’s rejection of China’s territorial claims in the East and South China Seas.
According to Press TV, on Wednesday, Biden told Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in a phone call that his administration was committed to defending Japan, including the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both Japan and China.
In a telephone call on Saturday, just a day after being confirmed for the post, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi, that the disputed islands were covered by “Article V of the US-Japan Security Treaty,” and that Washington remained “opposed to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea.”
According to the article, the US will defend territories “under Japan’s administration” in the event of an armed attack.
Separately, and just three days into the Biden administration, State Department Spokesman Ned Price warned China against threatening Taiwan, after Beijing sent more than a dozen military fighter jets and bombers to conduct military drills near the self-ruled Chinese island.
“We will stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity security and values in the Indo-Pacific region — and that includes deepening our ties with democratic Taiwan,” Price said in a statement. “Our commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid.”
Beijing has sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan, and under the “One China” policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty and are not allowed to have formal relations with the island.
The US, too, recognizes Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan but it has constantly sold weapons to the island for the past years, bypassing Beijing, and avidly backs its secessionist president, Tsai Ing-wen.
Beijing says the US contacts with Taiwan and the weapon sales to the island are a violation of China’s sovereignty.
The Trump administration particularly stepped up military support for Taiwan in recent years, and in its last days in office, it lifted a ban on diplomatic contacts with the self-ruled island.
ME
