China vows no concessions on Taiwan after Biden comments

BEIJING (AP) — China connected Friday said determination is “no room” for compromise oregon concessions implicit the contented of Taiwan, pursuing a remark by U.S. President Joe Biden that the U.S. is committed to defending the land if it is attacked.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reasserted China’s longstanding assertion that the land is its territory astatine a regular briefing aft Biden made his remark a time earlier astatine a forum hosted by CNN.

China has precocious upped its menace to bring Taiwan nether its power by unit if indispensable by flying warplanes adjacent the land and rehearsing formation landings.

“When it comes to issues related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and different halfway interests, determination is nary country for China to compromise oregon marque concessions, and nary 1 should underestimate the beardown determination, steadfast volition and beardown quality of the Chinese radical to support nationalist sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wang said.

“Taiwan is an inalienable portion of China’s territory. The Taiwan contented is purely an interior matter of China that allows nary overseas intervention,” Wang said.

Biden’s comments connected Thursday were viewed arsenic stretching the “strategic ambiguity” Washington has maintained implicit however it would respond to an battle connected the self-governing land republic.

The U.S. should “be cautious with its words and actions connected the Taiwan issue, and not nonstop immoderate incorrect signals to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, truthful arsenic not to earnestly harm China-U.S. relations and bid and stableness successful the Taiwan Strait,” Wang said.

In his comments, Biden said the U.S. did not privation a caller Cold War but expressed interest astir whether China was “going to prosecute successful activities that volition enactment them successful a presumption wherever they whitethorn marque a superior mistake.”

“I conscionable privation to marque China recognize that we are not going to measurement back, we are not going to alteration immoderate of our views.” Biden said. Asked whether the U.S. would travel to Taiwan’s defence if it were attacked, helium replied: “Yes, we person a committedness to bash that.”

Asked Friday whether the U.S. would support Taiwan if the land were attacked by China, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a newsman helium would not sermon hypothetical situations, but besides said, “Nobody wants to spot cross-Strait issues travel to blows -– surely not President Biden, and there’s nary crushed that it should.” Speaking successful Brussels aft a NATO defence ministers’ meeting, Austin added that Washington remains committed to its longstanding “one China” policy.

In Taipei, a spokesperson for independence-minded President Tsai Ing-wen said the U.S. has shown its enactment for Taiwan done factual actions and the island’s 23 cardinal citizens would not surrender to unit oregon enactment rashly.

“Taiwan volition show our steadfast determination to support ourselves and proceed to enactment with countries with akin values to marque a affirmative publication toward the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific region’s bid and stability,” spokesperson Chang Tun-han said.

China and Taiwan divided during a civilian warfare successful 1949. The U.S. chopped ceremonial diplomatic relations with Taipei successful 1979 successful bid to admit Beijing. The U.S. does not openly contention China’s assertion to Taiwan, but is committed by instrumentality to guarantee the land tin support itself and to dainty each threats toward it arsenic matters of “grave concern.”

Under President Xi Jinping, who is besides Communist Party person and caput of the equipped forces, China has been stepping up military, diplomatic and economical unit connected Taiwan. Over its National Day play astatine the opening of the month, China sent a grounds 149 subject craft southwest of Taiwan successful onslaught radical formations, prompting Taiwan to scramble craft and activate its aerial defence rocket systems.

China has besides precocious held formation landing exercises connected its broadside of the astir 160-kilometer (100-mile) -wide Taiwan Strait that, similar the craft incursions, it described arsenic a informing to Tsai’s administration.

The U.S. has reinforced its enactment for Taiwan with subject sales. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said this period that American enactment for Taiwan is “rock solid.” The U.S. has “also been precise wide that we are committed to deepening our ties with Taiwan,” Price said.

On Wednesday, Biden’s prime for ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, told lawmakers considering his information that Americans should “have assurance successful our strength” erstwhile dealing with the emergence of China, a federation helium said the U.S. and its allies could manage.

Burns echoed the Biden administration’s basal connected cooperating with China wherever imaginable but condemning galore of its actions, including its policies toward Taiwan and the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong, wherever it has virtually eliminated dissident voices done stiff authorities and arrests.

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AP National Security Writer Robert Burns successful Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.