U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to comment in response to a question about whether the United States would ever allow China to take control of Taiwan by force.
“I never comment on that,” Trump said at the White House. “I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.”
Trump spoke during a Cabinet meeting in response to a reporter’s question about whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president.
He said he intended to have good relations with China, including cross-border investment, despite his imposition of tariffs on goods from the country.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically governed Taiwan under its control. Taiwan strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims.
In a separate interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the government had a long standing position on Taiwan it was not going to abandon, namely being against any forced or coercive change in Taiwan’s status.
“America has existing commitments that it has made to prevent that from happening and to react to it, and that would be executed on….the Chinese are aware of this as well,” he said, when asked what would the U.S. do if China attacked.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 and has long said it does not support a formal declaration of independence by Taiwan.
It does, however, maintain unofficial relations with Taiwan and remains its most important backer and arms supplier under a law that requires Washington to provide Taiwan with a means to defend itself.
The United States has long stuck to a policy of “strategic ambiguity,” not making clear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, took a different approach during his time in office, saying that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if China were to attack.
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