China's government has reacted angrily to US President Joe Biden's pledge of support for Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
The remarks are a "serious violation" of the "One China Principle" and the commitments the US has made to Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told the press in Beijing on Monday. She said the US side was sending "the completely wrong signal" to the independence forces in Taiwan. "China is firmly against it."
Biden had assured the self-governing democratic island republic of military support, including US troops, in the event of an attack, during a TV interview broadcast on Sunday.
The communist leadership in Beijing considers Taiwan part of the People's Republic and has threatened to take it by force if it makes any moves to formal independence.
The US has committed itself to Taiwan's defence capability, which so far has mainly meant arms deliveries. The question of military assistance by US troops in the event of an attack was deliberately left open by Biden's predecessors under a policy of "strategic ambiguity."
