It is not the first time the Biden administration has said it does not seek confrontation with Beijing. However, its recent steps – such as military drills in the South China Sea and the new AUKUS military pact (clearly targeted at China) may prompt one to have doubts about that.
US President Joe Biden says the United States is not seeking a cold war with China, but will not give up on its positions.
“I don’t want a cold war with China. I want China to understand that we are not going to step back and change any of our views,” Biden said at the CNN town hall on Thursday.
“China, Russia and the rest of the world knows we have the most powerful military in the history of the world,” he added.
Biden also said that the United States would defend Taiwan in case China attacks the island.
“Yes, we have a commitment to do that,” he said
Biden’s nominee for the position US Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that China represents the greatest security threat to the United States and the democratic world and unlike Washington, Beijing has no real allies.
Burns called on Congress and Biden administration to scale up security cooperation and arms provisions to Taiwan to defend itself from China.
On October 7, The Wall Street Journal reported that US Marines and special operations forces have been secretly training Taiwanese soldiers on the island to defend against possible Chinese aggression. The report said the US soldiers have been operating in Taiwan for at least a year, during which time they have conducted training for Taiwanese ground force units as a way to prepare them for threats coming from China.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said China might mount a full-scale invasion of the island nation by 2025. China in recent days has sent almost 150 military aircraft close to Taiwan while the US and other allied forces conducted drills in the South China Sea.
