President Joe Biden, for at least the fourth time, recently indicated that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan should China attack the island democracy. It’s another clear departure from the long-standing U.S. strategy of avoiding a direct answer to that question. It would have been a change of policy for the better had White House officials not, for at least the fourth time, walked back the commander in chief’s statement. The backpedaling spurred the policy community once again to debate the merit of “strategic ambiguity.”

The truth is that strategic ambiguity is a red herring. If the United States abandons said ambiguity and sides unequivocally with Taiwan, it has a better chance to sustain peace in the region.