U.S. President Joe Biden reignited confusion about his administration’s approach toward Taiwan hours after a lengthy virtual summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, providing an early test of whether the countries can move past the issue after a generally positive meeting.
Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden said that Taiwan "makes its own decisions,” and that the self-governing island is "independent.”
Hours later, Biden waded back into the issue, saying "we are not encouraging independence” and emphasizing again that historic U.S. policy toward the island democracy remains in place.