When will Biden stop sowing confusion?

The arrival of Joe Biden in the White House after four years of Donald Trump was greeted by the Left as ushering in a new era in US foreign policy. The “grown-ups’’ were back in charge, we were told. Yet the first half of Mr Biden’s presidency has been anything but sure-footed, with the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last year undermining a seemingly undeserved reputation for diplomatic expertise.

President Biden is currently on his first tour of Asia, where he seemingly enunciated a new policy towards China over Beijing’s claim to Taiwan. Asked at a press conference in Tokyo if he would be willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, he said: “Yes ... that’s a commitment we made.” In fact, it is not a commitment ever made by America. The policy is governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, which states that “the United States will make available to Taiwan such defence articles and defence services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defence capabilities”.

Moreover, the law states the policy will not be changed unilaterally by the president and any decision to defend Taiwan will be made with the consent of Congress. Sure enough, the State Department was required once again to “walk back”, as it is euphemistically known in Washington, on Mr Biden’s comments. America’s policy remained intact, officials said.

Something similar happened in March when Mr Biden appeared to call for regime change in Moscow only for the White House to deny that this was a stated US ambition. Strategic ambiguity may help keep autocracies like China and Russia guessing, but sowing confusion is dangerous.