US President Joe Biden tried on Sunday to reassure China that a conflict with the West is avoidable, even as the Group of Seven increased pressure to counter growing military and economic security threats from Beijing.
“I don’t think there’s anything inevitable about the notion that there’s going to be this conflict” between the West and Beijing, Biden said during a news conference Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of the G7 summit.
However, Biden stressed that the G7 and other regional partners are aligned to deal with aggression from Beijing, including its possible invasion of Taiwan. “I think we are closer than ever in the Pacific,” she said.
“We all agree that we are going to uphold the one-China policy,” Biden said, referring to the policy of the US recognizing Beijing as China’s proxy and Beijing’s view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan without endorsing it.
In political terms, Washington considers that the status of Taiwan is unresolved.
Neither China nor Taiwan “can independently state what they are going to do, period. There has to be a new, mutually agreed outcome.”
While Western allies “do not expect Taiwan to independently declare its independence,” Biden warned China not to invade the self-governing island that Beijing views as a breakaway province.
“There is a clear understanding among most of our allies that, in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response,” he warned. “There would be an answer.”
The G7 cover statement criticized China for its use of “economic coercion”, the militarization of the South China Sea and “interference activities” aimed at undermining the security of diplomats, the integrity of democratic institutions and economic prosperity.
Beijing was quick to respond, accusing the G7 of using “China-related issues to smear and attack China and blatantly interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
“Taiwan is China’s Taiwan,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement. “Solving the Taiwan issue is a Chinese issue, an issue that must be resolved by the Chinese.”
On the other hand, Biden affirmed that the G7 will remain united in its support for Ukraine. “We will not falter,” he said.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin will not break our resolve as he thought he would,” he added.
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