The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation aimed at supporting the security of Taiwan and its right of self-determination in a 17-5 bipartisan vote on Sept. 14.
The Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, a bill introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez, (D-N.J.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would provide Taiwan with $4.5 billion through a foreign military financing initiative through 2026.
The Act also proposed to include the island as a major non-NATO ally to facilitate arms sales, and assess free-trade agreements to enhance economic development and cooperation with Taiwan.
It’s unclear whether the Biden administration would support it, but Menendez described the bill as “the most comprehensive restructuring of U.S. policy towards Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) of 1979,” reported the Central News Agency based in Taiwan.
Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative
Included in the bill are “measures to strengthen the United States-Taiwan defense relationship, and to accelerate the modernization of Taiwan’s defense capabilities required to deter or, if necessary, to defeat an invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China.”
Military coercion from Beijing intensified immediately following the visit of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the island in August.
China sent 27 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Aug. 3, and fired at least 11 ballistic missiles into waters encircling Taiwan on Aug. 4, after Pelosi finished her visit in Taiwan.
Since then, the regime’s provocative military acts around the island have been non-stop and escalating.
Taiwanese Americans gather in front of the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles on Aug. 14 in a demonstration urging the U.S. government’s continued support of Taiwan. Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Menendez said, “As Beijing continues to take coercive diplomatic, political, military and economic measures against Taiwan, today’s strong, bipartisan vote not only signals our unwavering support for the Taiwanese people but our recognition of the pivotal role that the United States Congress must play in confronting these challenges,” Fox News reported.
Beijing’s Response
When the bill was first introduced on June 16, Beijing’s mouthpiece Global Times claimed the bill was “provocative” and “evil;” it is America playing the “Taiwan Card to contain China,” but “it will not change the fact that Taiwan is part of China.”
According to The Hill report on Sept. 14, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. warned, “Once passed as law, it will have a subversive impact on China-US relations and send a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”
In a typical claim of the regime, Liu demanded that America “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.”
The Communist regime, founded in 1949, has never ruled Taiwan; but insists Taiwan is part of its sovereignty since the then Nationalist-led government overthrew the Qing Empire during 1911-1912, defeated the invading Japanese during World War II, but lost the civil war and retreated to Taiwan in 1949.
The committee’s approval paved the way for a vote in the full Senate, but there has been no word on when that might take place. To become law, it must also pass the House of Representatives and be signed by Biden or win enough support to override a veto.
The White House said on Sept. 13 it was in talks with members of Congress on how to change the act to ensure that it does not change long-standing U.S. policy toward Taiwan that it considers effective.
The Taiwan bill is likely to be folded into a larger piece of legislation expected to pass late this year, such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual bill setting policy for the Department of Defense.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Mary Hong
Author
Mary Hong is a NTD reporter based in Taiwan. She covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Mary primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."
