Eric Altbach speaks with Yahoo News about President Biden's first trip to Asia as president. 

"I think there is a lot of support for U.S. engagement in the region," says Eric Altbach, a senior vice president at the Albright Stonebridge Group who served in the State Department and the White House as a foreign policy expert under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

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Hours before Biden and Xi, the Chinese leader, spoke in March about the situation in Ukraine, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait in what could only be interpreted as a reminder to Washington. A U.S. guided missile destroyer “shadowed the carrier at least partly on its route,” Reuters reported.

'The ultimate goal of reunification with Taiwan is one of the top priorities of Chinese leaders,' Altbach told Yahoo News. 'I don't think the travails of the Russians in Ukraine are a direct corollary to the challenges [Chinese leaders] would face in Taiwan.'

The White House has insisted that Biden respects Chinese claims on Taiwan, but the delicate balance on the issue could easily be upset, especially by a provocation on China’s part." 

Read the full article here.