US response to Ukraine invasion sows further doubts about defending Taiwan if mainland China attacks
- Joe Biden has said the US will not send troops in after the Russian invasion, prompting questions over how far Washington would go to stop Beijing
- A high-level US delegation recently visited Taiwan in what was seen as a tacit show of support for the island
The delegation – including Michael Mullen, the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pentagon’s former policy chief, Michèle Flournoy – met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday.
Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, condemned the meetings.
Shao Zonghai, a Taiwanese political scientist from Macau Polytechnic University, said that despite the symbolic importance of the visit, US President Joe Biden’s insistence he would not send the US military to Ukraine was a clear signal that the US would probably not send troops to protect Taiwan in the wake of a military action from the mainland.
“Biden’s insistence on not sending the US soldiers into Ukraine to participate in the war is actually a clear sign – the US doesn’t want to be involved into a direct conflict with Russia,” Shao said.
“So if something happens in the Taiwan Strait, and when Taiwan faces severe challenges from mainland China, how can the United States jump out and send troops to Taiwan for military assistance?”