东京——美国总统乔·拜登周一表示，如果出现以下情况，美国将进行军事干预中国就是入侵台湾，宣称在俄罗斯入侵后，保护该岛的承诺“更加坚定”乌克兰。这是几十年来支持台湾自治的最强有力的总统声明之一。

拜登在东京的一次新闻发布会上，当被问及如果中国入侵，他是否愿意参与军事行动来保卫台湾时，他说“是的”。“这是我们做出的承诺，”他补充道。

美国传统上一直避免向台湾做出如此明确的安全保证，因为美国与台湾不再有共同防御条约，而是在愿意走多远的问题上保持“战略模糊”的政策。指导美国与台湾关系的1979年《与台湾关系法》(Taiwan Relations Act)没有要求美国在中国入侵的情况下进行军事干预，但将确保台湾拥有自卫资源并阻止北京方面单方面改变地位列为美国的政策。

一名白宫官员说，拜登的言论并不反映美国的政策转变，国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀(Lloyd Austin)更坚定地回应了这一点，记者问拜登的回答是否表明美国将为台湾提供比帮助乌克兰更多的帮助，以及美国是否承诺在台湾遭到入侵时派遣部队帮助台湾。

“正如总统所说，我们的一个中国政策没有改变，”奥斯汀在五角大楼说。他重申了这一政策以及我们对台海和平与稳定的承诺。他还强调了我们根据《台湾关系法》帮助台湾提供自卫手段的承诺。所以，我们的政策不会改变。”

但是拜登的话引起了mainland China的强烈反应，称台湾是一个流氓省份。

中国外交部发言人王文斌对拜登的言论表示“强烈不满和坚决反对”。“在涉及中国主权和领土完整等核心利益的问题上，中国没有妥协和让步的余地。”

他补充说，“中国将采取坚定的行动来维护其主权和安全利益，我们将说到做到。”

拜登在日本首相岸田文雄的旁边说，中国对台湾动武的任何努力都“不合适”，并补充说，这将“扰乱整个地区，是类似于乌克兰发生的又一次行动”

近年来，中国加强了对民主台湾的军事挑衅，旨在恐吓台湾接受北京提出的与共产主义大陆统一的要求。

拜登在谈到中国时表示:“他们飞得如此之近，并进行各种演习，已经在与危险调情了。”。

在“一个中国”的政策下，美国承认北京是中国政府，与台湾没有外交关系。然而，美国保持着非官方的联系，包括在首都台北设立事实上的大使馆，并为台湾的防御提供军事装备。

拜登表示，他“期望”中国不会试图以武力夺取台湾，但他也表示，“这取决于世界有多强烈地表明，这种行动将导致社会其他成员的长期反对。”

他补充说，阻止中国攻击台湾是俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京“为他在乌克兰的野蛮行为付出高昂代价”很重要的原因之一，以免中国和其他国家认为这种行为是可以接受的。

拜登不想与拥有核武器的俄罗斯升级，因此很快排除了让美国军队与俄罗斯发生直接冲突的可能性。但美国已经运送了数十亿美元的军事援助，帮助乌克兰对俄罗斯的进攻进行了超出预期的抵抗。

台北对拜登的讲话表示欢迎，外交部发言人乔安妮·欧表示“真诚的欢迎和感谢”

欧说:“中国对台湾海峡安全构成的挑战引起了国际社会的极大关注。”。“台湾将继续提高自卫能力，深化与美国、日本和其他志同道合的国家的合作，共同捍卫台湾海峡的安全和以规则为基础的国际秩序，同时促进印太地区的和平、稳定与繁荣。”

这不是拜登第一次承诺保护台湾免受中国攻击，随后政府官员声称美国的政策没有改变。10月，在美国有线电视新闻网的一个市政厅，拜登被问及使用美国军队保卫台湾的问题，他回答说，“是的，我们有这样做的承诺。”

台湾并不是白宫澄清或收回拜登言论的唯一外交政策问题。当他在3月宣布普京是战犯时，时任新闻秘书的珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)表示，尽管在这个问题上尚未达成法律结论，但总统“说出了他的心声”。

3月在波兰的一次演讲中，拜登谈到普京时说，“这个人不能继续掌权。”白宫官员争先恐后地表示，拜登并没有呼吁俄罗斯政权更迭。

拜登对台湾问题的最新评论是在他正式启动一项期待已久的印度-太平洋贸易协定之前发表的，该协定将台湾排除在外。

白宫国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文(Jake Sullivan)周日证实，台湾不在签署印太经济框架协议的政府之列，该协议旨在让美国与亚洲主要经济体在供应链、数字贸易、清洁能源和反腐败等问题上更紧密地合作。

将台湾包括在内会惹恼中国。

沙利文说，美国希望在一对一的基础上深化与台湾的经济伙伴关系。

Biden: US would intervene with military to defend Taiwan

TOKYO -- President Joe Biden said Monday the U.S. would intervene militarily ifChinawere to invadeTaiwan, declaring the commitment to protect the island is “even stronger” after Russia's invasion ofUkraine. It was one of the most forceful presidential statements in support of Taiwan's self-governing in decades.

Biden, at a news conference in Tokyo, said “yes” when asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. “That’s the commitment we made,” he added.

The U.S. traditionally has avoided making such an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan, with which it no longer has a mutual defense treaty, instead maintaining a policy of “strategic ambiguity" about how far it would be willing to go. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which has governed U.S. relations with the island, does not require the U.S. to step in militarily if China invades, but makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing.

A White House official said Biden’s comments did not reflect a policy shift for the United States, a point echoed more firmly by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, asked by reporters if Biden’s answer indicated the U.S. would do more to help Taiwan than it has done to help Ukraine and whether the U.S. was making a commitment to send troops to help Taiwan in the event of an invasion.

“As the president said our One China policy has not changed,” Austin said at the Pentagon. “He reiterated that policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He also highlighted our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself. So, again, our policy is not changed."

But Biden's words drew a sharp response from mainland China, which has claimed Taiwan to be a rogue province.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin expressed “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" to Biden's comments. “China has no room for compromise or concessions on issues involving China’s core interests such as sovereignty and territorial integrity."

He added, "China will take firm action to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests, and we will do what we say.”

Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said any effort by China to use force against Taiwan would “just not be appropriate,” adding that it would "dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.”

China has stepped up its military provocations against democratic Taiwan in recent years, aimed at intimidating it into accepting Beijing's demands to unify with the communist mainland.

“They’re already flirting with danger right now by flying so close and all the maneuvers that are undertaken,” Biden said of China.

Under the “one China” policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, the U.S. maintains unofficial contacts including a de facto embassy in Taipei, the capital, and supplies military equipment for the island’s defense.

Biden said it was his “expectation” that China would not try to seize Taiwan by force, but he also said that “depends upon just how strong the world makes clear that that kind of action is going to result in long-term disapprobation by the rest of the community."

He added that deterring China from attacking Taiwan was one reason why it's important that Russian President Vladimir Putin "pay a dear price for his barbarism in Ukraine," lest China and other nations get the idea that such action is acceptable.

Wanting no escalation with nuclear-armed Russia, Biden quickly ruled out putting U.S. forces into direct conflict with Russia. But the U.S. has shipped billions of dollars in military assistance that has helped Ukraine put up a stiffer-than-expected resistance to Russia’s onslaught.

Taipei cheered Biden's remarks, with Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou expressing “sincere welcome and gratitude."

“The challenge posed by China to the security of the Taiwan Strait has drawn great concern in the international community,” said Ou. “Taiwan will continue to improve its self-defense capabilities, and deepen cooperation with the United States and Japan and other like-minded countries to jointly defend the security of the Taiwan Strait and the rules-based international order, while promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”

It's not the first time Biden has pledged to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack, followed by administration officials contending there had been no change to American policy. In a CNN town hall in October, Biden was asked about using the U.S. military to defend Taiwan and replied, “Yes, we have a commitment to do that."

Taiwan isn't the only foreign policy issue on which the White House has clarified or walked back Biden's comments. When he declared in March that Putin was a war criminal, Jen Psaki, then the press secretary, said the president was "speaking from his heart" even though a legal conclusion hadn't been reached on the issue.

During a March speech in Poland, Biden said of Putin, “This man cannot remain in power." White House officials raced to say that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia.

Biden's latest comments on Taiwan came just before he formally launched a long-anticipated Indo-Pacific trade pact that excludes Taiwan.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Sunday that Taiwan isn’t among the governments signed up for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which is meant to allow the U.S. to work more closely with key Asian economies on issues like supply chains, digital trade, clean energy and anticorruption.

Inclusion of Taiwan would have irked China.

Sullivan said the U.S. wants to deepen its economic partnership with Taiwan on a one-to-one basis.

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