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China-US tension: fresh uncertainty over America’s ‘strategic ambiguity’ on Taiwan
- Until last month, Washington had refused to confirm or deny if it would intervene militarily to defend the island from an attack
- Any move towards clarity over US obligations brings its own problems, say military experts
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The risk of a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait between China and the United States is rising as the US more clearly defines its defence ties with Taiwan, pushing Beijing to send more threatening signals, observers said.
They said that even though the US was not moving away from long held “strategic ambiguity” around its obligation to defend the self-ruled island from attack by mainland China, a recent gesture by Washington would prompt Taiwan to seek more clarity from Washington, further aggravating tension between the three sides.
Last month, US President Joe Biden told a town hall the US would protect Taiwan in the case of an attack by Beijing – which considers the island as its territory, to be taken back by force if necessary.
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The White House rapidly walking back the statement, saying Biden was not signalling a policy change.
But there have been calls for the US to move away from the decades-old policy of strategic ambiguity, in which Washington refuses to confirm or deny if it would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan in the event of such an attack.
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One of those calls came on Wednesday when Adam Schiff, chairman of the influential US House Intelligence Committee, urged the Biden administration to be clearer about Taiwan. “I think probably less ambiguity is better than more ambiguity,” he told the Aspen Security Forum.
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