As the world itself appears inevitably aimed at some sort of modern, global conflict, it is becoming increasingly clear just who will be facing off against who.
The battles lines appear to be drawn down the ideological morass between freedom and tyranny, democracy and authoritarianism.
On one, it’s the US and her allies. On the other: China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and whoever else wants to glom onto this abhorrent trend.
This week, the United States and China inched ever closer to trouble yet again, as President Joe Biden asserted his suggestion that America would militarily defend Taiwan if China attacked.
President Joe Biden said this week that the United States would defend Taiwan if China invaded, appearing to break with the US government’s stance of “strategic ambiguity” on the island.
His comments came in an interview that aired Sunday evening, when a 60 Minutes correspondent asked the president if US forces would defend Taiwan.
“Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack,” Biden responded.
And then:
The president went on to emphasize his administration’s support for the “One China” policy, which recognizes the government in Beijing while allowing for informal ties with Taiwan.
“Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving – we’re not encouraging their being independent. We’re not – that – that’s their decision,” Biden said Sunday.
The proclamation certainly won’t sit well with Beijing, who’ve long demanded that the world adopt their own personal view that Taiwan somehow belongs to China.
Biden’s statement comes just weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taipei, in a diplomatic stunt that had China fuming.
