WASHINGTON \u2014 President Joe Biden said the U.S. did not support independence for Taiwan, after voters there defied China and returned the governing Democratic Progressive Party \u2014 which has sought to limit Beijing\u2019s influence \u2014 to a third consecutive term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not support independence,\u201d Biden told reporters Saturday as he departed the White House for Camp David.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s comment appears intended to assuage concerns in China, who had hoped Taiwan\u2019s current vice president, Lai Ching-te, would not be elected president. Results showed Lai, who has maintained close ties with the U.S., edging out Hou Yu-ih of the opposition Nationalist Party, who had pledged to expand trade and diplomacy with China.<\/p>\n
China has long claimed that the island of Taiwan is its territory, and President Xi Jinping has advocated for unification and refused to rule out a military intervention. <\/p>\n
The U.S. has traditionally adopted a policy of strategic ambiguity, where it acknowledges China\u2019s historical claims to sovereignty over Taiwan and maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan while pledging defense assistance to the island. Still, suggestions by Biden that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan have roiled the relationship between the U.S. and Beijing.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the election shows the strength of Taiwan\u2019s \u201crobust democratic system\u201d and reiterated that the U.S. \u201cis committed to maintaining cross-Strait peace and stability, and the peaceful resolution of differences, free from coercion and pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. will work with Lai and all party leaders in Taiwan \u201cto further our long-standing unofficial relationship\u201d consistent with the U.S.\u2019s one-China policy, he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Mike Johnson will ask a delegation of House lawmakers to travel to Taipei after Lai\u2019s inauguration in May, he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. <\/p>\n
(Ashleigh Carrington Fields contributed to this report.)<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n