“Some say it's a carefully coordinated campaign of ambiguity. Others say that Biden is senile and misspoke. I would argue that at this point the reason doesn't really matter. In the event of a war, it would always be up to the president to decide whether to intervene or not regardless of the formal policy. We now have a clear window on what Biden's decision would be. For years, US strategists argued the ambiguity was a good thing. It kept Beijing guessing but was not an explicit threat to intervene in what the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] would see as its internal affairs. As the US-China relationship has deteriorated, and the military balance in the Taiwan Strait shifted, many US strategists have called for the US to clarify its commitment.”

by: Matthew Kroenig