A new bill urging the EU and its member states to keep an arms embargo against China has been introduced to the US Congress.
Sponsored by US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the bill is in response to moves by some prominent European nations to lift the embargo.
“Lifting this embargo would pose a grave threat to Taiwan,” said Coen Blaauw, an official with the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).
“The prospect of EU-made submarines and missiles being sold to China is very disturbing. Additionally, some of the European weapons are based on US technology and could be used against US forces if Washington defends Taiwan should China stage an invasion,” Blaauw said.
“The Taiwan Strait continues to be one of the major flashpoints in the world and a conflict in the region will ultimately involve US forces. Lifting the ban will be bad for Taiwan and bad for the US,” Blaauw said.
The bill has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where Ros-Lehtinen is expected to ensure that it is given a hearing soon.
A European arms embargo was introduced against China following the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.
However, Spain recently said it wants to “eliminate any inconvenience in relationships between the EU and China” and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has recommended lifting the embargo to develop stronger foreign policy and security ties with Beijing.
According to the bill, China’s military buildup remains “shrouded in secrecy” and challenges the US and its allies, “particularly Taiwan.”
“The People’s Republic of China has been engaged in an extensive military buildup in its air, naval, land and outer space systems, including the deployment of approximately 1,600 short and medium-range ballistic missiles near the Taiwan Strait,” it says.
Weapons sales from Europe, the bill says, would encourage China to settle longstanding territorial disputes in the region “by the threat or use of military force.”
The bill reaffirms the US arms embargo on China and calls on US President Barack Obama, “consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, to clarify his policy toward Taiwan.”
It condemns the threat of military force by China against it neighbors and urges Obama to take diplomatic and other measures necessary to convince EU members to “continue to observe this embargo in principle and in practice.”
Sources directly connected to the House Foreign Affairs Committee said they expected the bill to attract even more support following the publication of Taiwan’s biennial defense white paper predicting that China is already capable of imposing a naval blockade around Taiwan and seizing Taiwan-controlled islands.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS