“But in the meantime, what’s happened is: I think it’s fair to say, for those of you who have dealt with the Japanese government and reported from here for a long time, the situation in terms of our relations with Japan have never, ever, ever in American history been stronger. Never. Never.”

Biden’s comments, published by the White House, came as he was asked by reporters to respond to an increased Chinese presence in the Taiwan Strait, a waterway that separates Taiwan from mainland China. Visits to Taiwan made last year by U.S. officials, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have also heightened tensions between the countries.

Mainland China and the island of Taiwan, among other islands, were ruled by the Republic of China before the ROC lost the Chinese Civil War in the early 20th century to the Chinese Communist Party, which established the new government of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949.

The ROC in turn established a temporary capital in Taipei on the island of Taiwan, a former Japanese territory, in December 1949 and served as the seat for China at the United Nations until it was replaced by the People’s Republic of China in 1971 as foreign countries switched their diplomatic relations.

China views Taiwan and its 23 million residents as a wayward province and has vowed to retake it by force, if necessary. Many supporters of Taiwan have since argued that it is an independent sovereign state separate from mainland China, which has never controlled Taiwan.

Biden added that he recently spoke to I’ve spoken at length with President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and that the U.S., with South Korea and Japan, all agree “we’re going to maintain the One China policy.”

“We’re not going to tell China what they can do. We made it clear that we don’t expect Taiwan to independently declare independence either,” Biden said.

“But in the meantime, we’re going to continue to put Taiwan in a position that they can defend themselves. And there is clear understanding among most of our allies that, in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response. There would be a response.”

Biden said that he does not intend on easing sanctions against China, which the country has demanded that he do, partly because he alleged that China is using American exports to build nuclear weapons.

“When I was asked by President Xi why, I said, ‘Because you’re using them to build nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and I’m not going to do it,'” Biden said in his remarks.

“And we’ve now got commitment from all of our allies they’re not going to either provide that kind of material that allows them to do that.”