China urged the United States on Friday to tread carefully on the topic of Taiwan after President Joe Biden told Beijing that Washington would defend the island against any "attacks" by China.

"China has no room for compromise on issues involving its core interests," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

The spokesman warned Washington that it should "act and speak cautiously on the Taiwan issue."

Earlier in the day, the Democrat president responded by saying, "Yes," when asked if the United States would defend Taiwan if China were to attack.

Biden's statement clashes with the long-held US policy known as "strategic ambiguity," where Washington helps build Taiwan's defenses without explicitly promising to come to the island's help. 

Biden claimed the United States had made a "sacred commitment" to defend NATO allies in Canada and Europe. He also asserted that Washington would also defend Japan and South Korea.

Despite there being a "Cold War" between the world's most powerful economies on several issues, the dispute over Taiwan could be the springboard behind a military conflict between China and the United States.

This policy was put in place to defend Taiwan but also discourage it from formally declaring independence, as China sees that the island off its east coast is part of its territories.

The two Chinese territories split in 1949, during the Chinese Civil War. During the war, the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China and the nationalists formed an opposition government in Taiwan.