US President Joe Biden pledged on Monday that his country would defend Taiwan militarily if necessary, while also announcing steps to counter China’s economic might, at talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Biden was visiting Tokyo as part of his first trip to Asia since taking office. Asked at a joint press conference whether the United States would defend Taiwan militarily in the case of an attack, Biden replied: “Yes.” “That’s a commitment we made,” he added, arguing that a forcible takeover of Taiwan would “dislocate the entire region,” and was comparable to Russia’s invasion o…