Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2021

November 16, 2021

Q. Mr. President, what happens next on Taiwan?

The President. Couldn't hear you.

Taiwan

Q. Mr. President, what happens next on Taiwan? You said you talked to President Xi about itââ

The President. Nothing.

Q. ââbut it's clear that there's a lot of tension on both sides.

The President. Nothing.

Q. Nothing happens?

The President. Nothing happens. We're not going to change our policy at all.

Q. Can you clarify what the policy is? Because you said today "independence," and in the past you've saidââ

The President. No, no, I said that they have to decideâ"they"âTaiwan. Not us. And we are not encouraging independence. We're encouraging that they do exactly what the Taiwan Act requires, and that's what we're doing. Let them make up their mind. Period. Taiwan make upââ

China-U.S. Relations/South China Sea

Q. Can you give us any more specifics about what you talked about last night on this topic?

The President. Well, Iâwe talked for 3Â½ hours, and that's the essence of the bottom line.

Look, I made it clearâI've made it clear all alongâthat we're going to abide by the rules of road. What constitutes international airspace is international airspace, no matter what they say. There's no air identification zonesâis what they're called.

Secondly, the Law of the Seas requires and dictates what constitutes territorial waters. We're going to stay outside of their territorial waters, but we're not going to be intimidated or change to not go up through the South China Sea. And we talked about that, and it wasâthere was no argumentation, just a matter of fact.

Thank you. You're going to freeze.

Q. Thank you, sir.

2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China

Q. Sir, will there be a Government delegation to the Olympics?

The President. I'm the delegation, and I dealt with it.

Q. You're going to the Olympics?

Q. Sir, are you going to the Olympics?

NOTE: The President spoke at 4:56 p.m. at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport prior to boarding Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, MD. In his remarks, he referred to President Xi Jinping of China.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: Manchester, NH. Locations: Manchester, NH.

Names: Xi Jinping.

Subjects: China : 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing; China : President; China : Relations with Taiwan; China : Relations with U.S.; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; New Hampshire : President's visit; Sports : Olympic Games; Taiwan : Relations with China.

DCPD Number: DCPD202100961.