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Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers!
And if you're President Joe Biden, happy Tuesday!
Biden has spent the past few days in South Korea and Japan to focus on relations with nations in the Indo-Pacific region following months of attention directed toward Russia's war in Ukraine.
In South Korea, Biden emphasized the joint themes of expanded economic and security cooperation. On Sunday, he touted Hyundai’s recently announced decision to build a $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia, a move he said shows how the U.S. and South Korea together can shape the direction of the world for the better while also creating more than 8,000 American jobs.
The president also told reporters he is not concerned about the U.S. intelligence assessment that North Korea could conduct a missile or nuclear test during his trip.
“We are prepared for anything North Korea does,” Biden said.
After South Korea, Biden is in Japan, where on Tuesday he plans to meet with the leaders of three other nations: Japan, India and Australia. The group is dubbed the "Quad," short for the "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue."
It's Amy with today's top stories out of Washington.
POTUS says U.S. would send military to Taiwan if China invades
President Biden said Monday that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense militarily if China invades and tries to take over the self-ruled island by force.
"That's the commitment we made," Biden said in a news conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
U.S. relations with the island are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which outlines the U.S. commitment to help Taiwan maintain its military defense. It does not require the U.S. to intervene militarily – which Biden has ruled out in Ukraine.
On Monday, Biden and Kishida said they still support the "One China" policy that recognizes there is only one Chinese government – the one in Beijing.
"But that does not mean that China has the jurisdiction to go in and use force to take over Taiwan," Biden said. "It will dislocate the entire region."
That's one of the reasons why, he said, Russia must pay a "dear price" for its invasion of Ukraine. If Russia is not held accountable, Biden said, "then what signal does that send to China about the cost of attempting to take Taiwan by force?"
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden said US would send military to Taiwan if China attacks
