For decades, the U.S. has walked a careful line when it comes to Taiwan — vowing to protect the island from China, without saying exactly how far it would go to do that.

On Monday, that appeared to change.

Guest: David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

• President Biden’s seemingly offhand remarks about Taiwan, made during his visit to Asia, caught some of his staff by surprise.
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been closely watched by those in Taiwan who feel that their island faces a similar threat from Beijing.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.