US President Joe Biden does not want to see cross-Strait issues between China and Taiwan come to blows, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.
"I would also note that Secretary [Lloyd] Austin also spoke of this and he said as Secretary of Defense, of course, nobody wants to see cross-Strait issues come to blows, certainly not President Biden, and there is no reason that it should," Sputnik quoted Psaki as saying.
At a nationally televised CNN town hall meeting on Thursday, Biden said the US would come to Taiwan's defense if it came under attack by China.
"There has been no shift. The President was not announcing any change in our policy nor has he made a decision to change our policy," Psaki said. "Our defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act."
A White House official attempted to clarify Biden's comments on Taiwan after the town hall, saying the President was "not announcing any change in our policy and there is no change in our policy" in his remarks about China and Taiwan, reported CNN."
The US defence relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act. We will uphold our commitment under the Act, we will continue to support Taiwan's self-defence, and we will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo," the official said.
Biden has made similar statements in the past, only to have the White House say longstanding US policy had not changed toward the island.
Under the "One China" policy, the US acknowledges China's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. In recent weeks, Beijing has sent dozens of warplanes near into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), and Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that "reunification" between China and Taiwan was inevitable.
( With inputs from ANI )
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