China-Taiwan tensions: Biden says U.S. to defend Taiwan against China, but can it?

Follow thinkMORE FROM NBC© 2022 NBCNEWS.COMMeeting with Asian allies in Tokyo on Monday, President Joe Biden said the United States was ready to intervene militarily on behalf of Taiwan should China attempt to seize the island by force — the most explicit commitment to protect the island articulated by a U.S. president, much as White House aides are now trying to suggest otherwise.Can U.S. conventional military power really prevent China from capturing an island just 81 miles away from its shoreline but thousands of miles away from the United States?Biden’s comments, made in response to a question from the media, come in the shadow of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s horrible invasion of Ukraine. Likely high on the mind of the U.S. leader is whether Beijing might one day assault Taiwan, and whether a far more wealthy and populous China can succeed where Putin failed.The Chinese Communist Party would prefer a peaceful Hong Kong-style political assimilation, but it has developed military capabilities to seize the self-governed island by force as a Plan B. Even if Washington only sought to send aid to Taiwan as it has with Ukraine, the U.S. and allies like Japan and Australia would have to overcome a certain Chinese blockade to get the material to Taiwan. China also has far greater economic resilience than Russia and can mass-produce the expensive long-range missiles Russia appears to be exhausting.Even if Washington only sought to send aid to Taiwan as it has with Ukraine, the U.S. and allies like Japan and Australia would have to overcome a certain Chinese blockade to get the material to Taiwan.