US President Joe Biden said he would be willing to intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if it were attacked. It is one of the strongest statements in support of the island in decades. Biden also warned that China’s increasingly assertive stance over Taiwan was “flirting with danger”. “We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it… but the idea that it can be taken by force is just not appropriate,” he said. The US president pointed to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, saying that sanctions against Russia should be continued “in many ways” to send a right message to China over Taiwan. His statements appear to clash with the US tradition of “strategic ambiguity” as Washington usually avoids making any such explicit guarantees to Taiwan. Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked Biden and the US government for reaffirming their commitment to the island. Biden is on a five-day Asia tour. After three days in South Korea, he arrived in Tokyo Monday morning, where he launched a new regional economic plan involving 12 Indo-Pacific states. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, or IPEF, provides a means for partner countries to deal with key issues including climate change, supply chain and digital trade, but does not extend to seeking to negotiate tariffs or ease market access. #China #Taiwan #Japan