U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday over increasing tension between China and Taiwan.
The call came after China sent a record number of aircraft into Taiwanese airspace over the weekend.
Both Presidents have agreed to abide by the “Taiwan agreement”.
Whilst there is no official “Taiwan agreement”, Biden is talking about the long-standing policy where the United States officially recognise Beijing rather than Taipei, and the Taiwan Relations Act.
The United States acknowledges China’s stance that the island of Taiwan belongs to China and does not take a stance on the sovereignty of China.
But this depends on the expectation that the future of Taiwan is peaceful.
If China was to invade Taiwan, then the “Taiwan agreement” would be void because the Taiwan Relations Act binds the United States to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Taiwan requested further clarification on the comments with Taiwan’s Foreign ministry advising that they had sought clarification from Biden, and they felt reassured the U.S. policy towards Taiwan remains unchanged.