June 15, 2022: -On Monday, there is a surging wariness of U.S. claims to recognize Beijing as the only legal government of China, a former officer of the People’s Liberation Army told CNBC.

His words came after U.S. President Joe Biden constantly suggested the U.S. would support Taiwan militarily if the island is attacked, to have the White House reject a shift in a decades-long “one-China policy.”

“We believe he is delivering lip service to this one-China policy,” said Zhou Bo, now a senior at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Strategy and Security Studies.

Taiwan is a democratically self-ruled island that Beijing considers part of its territory. Beijing has declared it aims for friendly reunification with Taiwan.

During the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend, China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe held that Beijing would achieve reunification and alerted those following Taiwan independence would “come to no good end.”

A day earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin blamed China for “provocative, destabilizing” military activity close to Taiwan.

For over 40 years, the U.S. “one China policy” has recognized Beijing as the exclusive legal government of China. The U.S. holds unofficial ties with Taiwan, with a policy of ensuring the island has the resources to defend itself.

Given recent media reports regarding U.S. assistance to Taiwan, Zhou said, “How could we have trust in the one-China policy?”