Biden Does Not Want to See Cross-Strait Issues Between China, Taiwan Come to Blows - Psaki

WASHINGTON, October 22 (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden does not want to see cross-Strait issues between China and Taiwan come to blows, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.

"I would also note that Secretary [Lloyd] Austin also spoke of this and he said as Secretary of Defense, of course, nobody wants to see cross-Strait issues come to blows, certainly not President Biden, and there is no reason that it should," Psaki said.

At a nationally televised CNN town hall meeting on Thursday, Biden said the US would come to Taiwan's defense if it came under attack by China.

"There has been no shift. The President was not announcing any change in our policy nor has he made a decision to change our policy," Psaki said. "Our defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act."

Taiwan took notice of Biden's pledge of readiness to protect the island but will refrain from rash actions, the Taiwanese government's spokesperson Chang Tun-han said on Friday as quoted as saying by the local Central News Agency.

Taiwan, which has been ruled independently from China since 1949, will continue to strive for ensuring its own defense, as well as cooperate with other countries for the security of the Indo-Pacific region, the spokesman added.

Earlier this month, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said that mainland China may be fully prepared to attack the island by 2025. His assumption followed the deployment by China of 150 military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone since early October for drills.

Beijing described its military exercise near the Taiwan border as a preventive measure to ensure its sovereignty and territorial integrity and counter any separatist activities and foreign interference.