Taiwan says it will not rely on others for defense

Taiwan will not rely on others for its defense, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday, while welcoming a U.S. commitment to the democratically governed island's security during what she called Chinese encroachment on its sovereignty. Tsai's remarks, pre-recorded and delivered to a U.S. audience at a Washington forum, come after U.S. President Joe Biden pledged in September to defend Taiwan in the event of any "Unprecedented attack" by China. In her address to the Washington-based Global Taiwan Institute think tank, Tsai thanked the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress for upholding the U.S. commitment to Taiwan's security and for recent U.S. military arms sales. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, mounted large-scale military drills to display its anger over an August visit there by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Chinese military aircraft have continued routinely crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which had for years acted as an unofficial barrier. James Moriarty, the U.S.-based chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy in Taipei, said "Strategic ambiguity" over whether Washington would come to the island's defense had never been stated as policy in any documents. Referring to the decades-old Taiwan Relations Act, which forms the basis of the United States' unofficial ties with Taiwan, he said: "The original documents make it clear that we would have to do something if there is an attempt to change Taiwan's status by force."