President Biden is in Tokyo Monday, talking up economic alliances to counter China.
But the real headline was his comments on Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China has long claimed.
A reporter asked him, “You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons, are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, if it comes to that?”
President Biden said yes. After a follow-up question, he said, “That’s the commitment we made.”
Beijing cried foul, and the White House quickly “clarified” his comments.
Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid from Tokyo.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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