President Joe Biden assured reporters that Chinese President Xi Jinping would respect the “Taiwan agreement” after a phone call with the leader in September.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have increased recently as China ramped up incursions of Taiwan’s defense zone, with a record 52 warships entering the zone on Monday. Biden said he had “spoken with Xi about Taiwan” and “we agree … we’ll abide by the Taiwan agreement.”
China will not recognize Taiwanese sovereignty, rather maintaining strictly non-diplomatic relations with the island, Reuters reported.
As tensions mount between China and Taiwan, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they agreed to abide by the Taiwan agreement https://t.co/zlhgnpgKcp pic.twitter.com/rzK4f18Skt
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 6, 2021
Premier Su Tseng-chang said Tuesday that Taiwan “must be on alert” as China becomes “more over the top.” President Tsai Ing-wen warned of “catastrophic” consequences if the island’s democracy falls to Beijing.
“We made it clear that I don’t think he should be doing anything other than abiding by the agreement,” Biden said. China has previously said an independent Taiwan “means war” and blamed the U.S., Taiwan’s most important supporter, for the incursions. (RELATED: Chinese Incursions Of Taiwan’s Air Defense Zone Take On New Meaning Post Afghanistan Debacle)
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, a former Chinese ambassador to the U.S., in Zurich, Switzerland, this week amid the rising tensions. The White House described the meeting as merely an attempt to “responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.