US policy on Taiwan aims to keep the status quo, White House official says

The US government has not changed its policy on Taiwan in that its main goal is to secure the status quo and not to escalate the situation there, a senior White House official said on Monday after US President Joe Biden asserted Washington’s defence commitment to the self-ruled island.

During a TV interview that aired on Sunday, Biden said “yes” when asked if US troops would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by Beijing, his clearest response yet on the issue of whether the United States would come to the aid of the island.

The remarks were seen as a deviation from Washington’s long-standing policy to maintain “strategic ambiguity” regarding the use of military force in response to a People’s Liberation Army attack on Taipei.

It was the fourth time during his presidency that Biden indicated the United States was resolved to defend Taiwan in a contingency. Each time, White House officials have said there was no change in US policy.

Campbell, appearing online for the event organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the “primary goal” of US policy on Taiwan was “the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and “to secure and stabilise the status quo”.