乔·拜登总统周日表示，如果中国攻击台湾，美国将在军事上保护台湾，他再次重申，他对这个岛的支持北京对此表示反对。
在…里“60分钟”采访拜登被问及“美国军队”是否会回应帮助台湾对抗中国。他说，“如果事实上发生了史无前例的袭击。”
他又被问到，“先生，明确地说，与乌克兰不同，如果中国入侵，美国军队——美国的男人和女人——会保卫台湾吗?”
“是的，”拜登说。
他的回答反映了另一名CBS新闻记者5月在东京举行的新闻发布会上问他类似问题时的反应，这至少是他第四次沿着这些路线说些什么，似乎超越了美国对台湾与中国关系的“战略模糊”的历史政策，尽管台湾有单独的政府，但中国认为台湾是一个分离的省份。
美国在法律上需要向台湾提供自卫资源，但如果中国入侵，美国不需要做出军事回应。
自1979年达成协议以来，美国一直承认中华人民共和国是中国的唯一合法政府——台湾在中国内战后成为一个独立的派别——同时避免对台湾独立的第三方问题发表评论。
周一在北京举行的新闻发布会上，中国政府发言人毛宁说，针对拜登有关台湾的言论，中国已向美国提出抗议。
President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House, Sept. 06, 2022.
凯文·迪奇/盖蒂图片社
她说，中国“谴责”并“坚决反对”总统的最新声明，中国保留采取一切必要措施的权利，但表示中国“愿意尽最大努力争取和平统一。”
今年5月，拜登表示，在俄罗斯今年早些时候入侵乌克兰后，美国保卫自治的台湾岛的“承诺”的“负担”变得“甚至更重”。
台湾外交部发言人乔安妮·欧(Joanne Ou)回应说，他们的政府“对拜登总统和美国政府重申其对台湾坚如磐石的承诺表示诚挚的欢迎和感谢。”
一名白宫官员当时向ABC新闻坚称，拜登的评论不代表转变，因为总统“重申了我们的承诺……向台湾提供自卫的军事手段。”
周日晚上，在拜登接受“60分钟”采访后，一名白宫官员再次表示，在他们看来，他的评论并不反映政策的变化。
7月，在拜登和中国领导人习近平通话后，一名白宫官员表示，他们在台湾问题上的讨论是“直接的”和“诚实的”，拜登重申了美国对其历史立场的承诺。但是这位官员没有回应中国的一份报告，该报告声称Xi说，“玩火会自焚。”
“习主席在两位领导人去年11月的对话中使用了类似的语言，但你知道，我不打算分析中国在这些问题上经常使用的各种隐喻，”这名政府官员说。
Biden says, again, that US would defend Taiwan from Chinese invasion
President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. would militarily defend Taiwan if China were to attack -- reiterating, again,his support for the islandas Beijing responded with disapproval.
Ina "60 Minutes" interview, Biden was asked if "U.S. forces" would respond to aid Taiwan against China. He said, "If in fact there was an unprecedented attack."
He was asked again, "So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, U.S. forces -- U.S. men and women -- would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?"
"Yes," Biden said.
His answer mirrors his response when another CBS News reporter asked him a similar question during a press conference in Tokyo in May and is at least the fourth time he’s said something along these lines, appearing to go beyond the historic U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” about Taiwan's relationship to China, which views the island as a breakaway province despite Taiwan's separate government.
The U.S is legally required to provide Taiwan with resources to defend itself but doesn’t require a U.S. military response if China were to invade.
Since a 1979 agreement, the U.S. has acknowledged the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China -- with Taiwan having emerged as a separate faction after the Chinese civil war -- while refraining from commenting on the third-rail question of Taiwanese independence.
At a Monday press conference in Beijing, government spokesperson Mao Ning said that China has lodged complaints with the U.S. in response to Biden's comments about Taiwan.
She said China "deplores" and "firmly opposes" the president's latest statements and that China reserves the right to take all necessary measures but said the country is "willing to do our best to strive for peaceful reunification."
In May, Biden said the "burden" of the U.S. "commitment" to defend the self-governing island of Taiwan was "even stronger" after Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said in response that their government "expresses sincere welcome and gratitude to President Biden and the U.S. government for reiterating its rock solid commitment to Taiwan.”
A White House official insisted to ABC News at the time that Biden’s comment didn’t represent a shift because the president “reiterated our commitment … to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.”
On Sunday night, after Biden's "60 Minutes" interview, a White House official again said that his comments did not, in their view, reflect a change in policy.
In July, after Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping spoke, a White House official said their discussion on Taiwan was “direct” and “honest,” with Biden reaffirming the U.S. commitment to its historic position. But the official wouldn’t respond to a Chinese readout claiming that Xi said, "Playing with fire will set yourself on fire.”
“President Xi used similar language in the conversation that the two leaders had back in November, but you know, I'm not going to get into parsing the various metaphors that the PRC regularly tends to use on these issues,” the administration official said.
