Biden says U.S. has "commitment" to defend Taiwan if China attacks

Hong Kong — President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the United States would defend Taiwan if China ever attacked the democratically governed island. The White House quickly walked back his remark as analysts tried to discern whether Mr. Biden might have been signalling a change in Washington's long-held policy of "strategic ambiguity" over the role the U.S. would play in the event of a military conflict between China and Taiwan. 

"Yes, we have a commitment," the president declared after being asked during a CNN Town Hall in Baltimore, Maryland whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the face of an attack by China.