Daily US Times: US President Joe Biden says he and Chinese president Xi Jinping have agreed to abide by the “Taiwan agreement”.
Mr Biden appeared to be referring to US’s longstanding “one China” policy under which it recognises China rather than Taiwan.
However, the agreement also allows the US to maintains a “robust unofficial” relationship with Taiwan.
The announcement comes amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
China has sent “record numbers” of military planes into Taiwan’s air defence zone for four consecutive days, which some experts say could be seen as a warning to Taiwan’s president ahead of the island’s national day.
Taiwan has its own constitution, democratically elected leaders and military and considers itself a sovereign state.
However, China views the island as its breakaway province and hasn’t ruled out the possible use of military action to achieve unification with the island.
The “One China” policy, which Mr Xi and Mr Biden are believed to have referred to, is a key cornerstone of US-China relations but is distinct from the One China principle, whereby Beijing insists Taiwan is an inalienable part of one China to be reunified one day.
President Biden said: “I’ve spoken with [Mr] Xi about Taiwan. We agree … we’ll abide by the Taiwan agreement. We made it clear that I don’t think he should be doing anything other than abiding by the agreement.”
Taiwan’s defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Wednesday that military tensions with China were at its worst in more than 40 years.
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