The U.S. will use force to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by the People’s Republic of China, President Biden said Monday during a news conference in Tokyo.

When asked if the U.S. would defend Taiwan, Biden said “Yes” and “That’s the commitment we made.”

In fact, the U.S. has committed to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself but has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” as to whether the U.S. would intervene militarily.

“We agree with a one-China policy. We’ve signed on to it and all the intended agreements made from there. But the idea that, that [Taiwan] can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not, is just not appropriate,” Biden added. He also compared a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The Washington Post describes the One China policy as “a long-standing bit of diplomatic legerdemain under which the U.S. recognizes China’s position that there is only one Chinese government, but does not accept Beijing’s view that Taiwan is under its rightful control.”

Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China. The ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the mainland to communist forces but continued to represent China in the United Nations until 1971.