U.S.-China: One summit, two different goals for Biden and Xi

Lyle Goldstein, the director of the Asia Engagement program at Defense Priorities said, “The Chinese must have insisted Biden mouth the ‘One China’ policy in public, emphasizing the One China part of it, and not the other parts of it that are so disturbing to the Chinese.”

The “other parts” point to references to the Taiwan Relations Act, for instance, which stipulates that the U.S. shall sell arms to Taiwan to enable it to protect itself.

Goldstein said Biden will likely avoid answering a question on whether the U.S. would militarily defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China.

“Biden four times has said we will defend Taiwan,” Goldstein said. “I don’t think he’ll be saying that here.”

Read article in Nikkei Asia

Featuring

Lyle
Goldstein

Director, Asia Program