China and Taiwan: What's Ukraine Got To Do With It?
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2022
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Residents of the island are watching intently as Ukraine defends itself against a much larger and more powerful adversary. And they are thinking about what it takes to galvanize international support.
The U.S. has a longstanding policy of ambiguity when it comes to talking about Taiwan and independence, not wanting to risk a conflict with China. So it was surprising last month when President Biden said the that U.S. will defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.
We speak to journalist Chris Horton, who is based in Taiwan. His recent piece in The Atlantic is headlined, "The Lessons Taiwan is Learning from Ukraine."
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is not something American presidents say. |
| 0:04.3 | You didn't want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. |
| 0:09.7 | Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that? |
| 0:14.4 | Yes. |
| 0:15.4 | You are. |
| 0:17.9 | That's the commitment we made. |
| 0:19.6 | President Biden in Tokyo last month saying the US will defend the self-governed island of Taiwan |
| 0:27.0 | in the event of an invasion by mainland China. |
| 0:29.7 | China claims the island as its own and has threatened to invade Taiwan if it declares independence. |
| 0:36.7 | The US has a longstanding policy of ambiguity when it comes to talking about all this, |
| 0:41.7 | not wanting to risk a conflict with China. |
| 0:44.7 | But not only did the president fail to be ambiguous in those remarks last month, |
| 0:49.7 | he repeated something he's actually said before. |
| 0:52.7 | So are you saying that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense in China attack? |
| 0:57.7 | Yes, we have a commitment to do that. |
| 0:59.2 | All right, we're going to... |
| 1:00.2 | I was Biden last October in a town hall on CNN. |
| 1:03.5 | He also made similar remarks and in ABC News interview last summer. |
| 1:07.7 | Then, and now, the White House says that US policy on Taiwan hasn't changed. |
| 1:13.7 | Even as the president committed to a policy that would represent a significant change. |
| 1:18.7 | What is indisputably changing is how Taiwan views its role. |
| 1:23.2 | In light of another global conflict with some similarities to its own, |
... |
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