However, the US president still insists he will arm Taiwan and “respond” to any attempt by Beijing to retake the island
U.S. President Joe Biden tells reporters there will soon be a “thaw” Washington’s relationship with Beijing.With U.S. sanctions still in place, G7 leaders accuse China of military and economic threat, Beijing questions Biden’s approach “Sincerity.”
Diplomatic communication between the United States and China has been disrupted since the shooting down of a supposedly Chinese surveillance balloon over U.S. airspace in February, Biden said at a news conference after the Group of Seven leaders summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Sunday.
“In terms of talking to each other, everything has changed,” said the President of the United States. However, Biden added that relations between the two countries appear to have improved, “I think you’ll see it start to thaw pretty soon.”
Biden, however, sent some ambiguous messages about Taiwan following his predictions of détente.After first declaring that the U.S. adheres to a “one China” policy — recognizing but not recognizing Beijing’s sovereignty over the island — Biden then vowed that the U.S. would continue to sell arms to Taipei, declaring “If China acts unilaterally, there will be a response.”
Biden did not specify whether that response would involve U.S. troops, but he has said repeatedly that he would send U.S. troops to repel a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.China strongly condemns these remarks and believes that they “serious breach” “One China” policy.
In response to Biden’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said on Monday that China maintains “Necessary amount of communication” with the United States.
“Now the U.S. is saying that it wants to have a dialogue with China, but at the same time it is trying to suppress China and impose sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and enterprises,” she continued. “Is this kind of communication… sincere?”
Asked whether he would consider lifting sanctions against Chinese officials, including Defense Minister Li Shangfu, Biden replied, “No, I will not ease the sanctions.”
In a joint communiqué released Saturday, Biden and his G7 leaders denounced China’s so-called “Economic coercion” the militarization of the South China Sea, and “put one’s oar in” with foreign diplomats.
“If the G7 summit is going to discuss economic coercion, it might as well first discuss how the United States coerces the other six member states,” China’s foreign ministry disputed that. “Gone are the days when a few Western countries could interfere in other countries’ internal affairs and manipulate global affairs at will.”
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