The US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” as the “cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations.”
The resolution is to go before the full House, where it is expected to pass without difficulty.
The resolution is significant because it reinforces US policy and underlines US support for Taiwan at a time when relations with China are becoming increasingly edgy over Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea.
US Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat, said that Taiwan is an important ally and the US Congress needed to do everything possible to make sure that it remains that way.
Sherman said that former US president Ronald Reagan issued the “six assurances” in 1982, stipulating that the US will not set an end date to arms sales to Taiwan, will not alter the TRA, will not hold consultations with China over arms sales to Taiwan, will not mediate between Taiwan and China, will not pressure Taiwan to negotiate with China and will not formally recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.
The “six assurances” had been a verbal pledge and the resolution solidified the commitment in legislation for the first time, Sherman said.
He said the resolution urges the US president and the US Department of State to affirm the “six assurances” “publicly, proactively and consistently” as a cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations.
“This is an exciting time for Taiwanese,” said US Representative Eliot Engel, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
He said that he is “very hopeful” about the success of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
“As Taiwan’s democracy prepares for a political transition, it’s important that the US signals its unwavering support for Taiwan’s defense, for its participation on the global stage, for its robust democracy,” Engel said.
US Representative Ed Royce, the committee’s Republican chairman, said that the US Congress had “long championed” a strong relationship with Taiwan and had pressed successive administrations to fulfill their obligation to sell defensive arms to Taiwan.
US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another Republican, said that the US must remain fully and firmly committed to the TRA and the “six assurances” and that Taiwan is a major ally, friend and security partner of the US.
“Taiwan must have the capability to defend itself from aggression from China whether of a political, economic or military nature, and it is critical that both Taiwan and China know our commitment to Taiwan has not wavered one bit,” she said.
US Representative Matt Salmon, a Republican, said that he would be attending Tsai’s inauguration ceremony next month and that Taiwan’s democracy is incredibly important to the region as a “guidepost” for other nations to follow.
US Representative Steve Chabot, the Republican who introduced the resolution, said that Taiwan faced an unrelenting threat from China and that China had about 1,600 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan.
Chabot said it is very important for both Taiwan and the US to build up their military forces.
The one thing that will make armed conflict more likely is weakness, Chabot said.
“As long as Taiwan and the US are strong, I don’t think China will ever take any overt military action,” he said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying