With the right words, Biden could help China avoid making a wrong move toward Taiwan

President Biden has been chipping away at America's longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity on a potential defense of Taiwan. Four times he has stated unequivocally that his administration will defend Taiwan. Just as faithfully, State Department and White House spokespersons responded to each Biden defense commitment by "clarifying" that U.S. policy regarding Taiwan has not changed and is still governed by the Taiwan Relations Act (1979), the three Sino-U.S Communiques (1972, 1979, 1982) and the Six Assurances (1982). A similar pattern of presidential commitments to defend Taiwan, followed by administration assurances of policy continuity, occurred with President Bush in 2001…