A concurrent resolution reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” as cornerstones of US-Taiwan relations was on Thursday introduced to the US Senate on the eve of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration yesterday.
The resolution was passed by the US House of Representatives earlier this week.
Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez — senior members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee — introduced the resolution cosponsored by senators Jim Inhofe, Sherrod Brown and Cory Gardner.
Menendez said the resolution reaffirmed the importance of strong bilateral relations with Taiwan and underscored the US Senate’s unwavering support for the TRA.
“As historic progress continues to be made to improve Taiwan-China relations, we must ensure that Taiwan remains both a close friend to the US and a beacon of democracy and freedom in the Asia-Pacific region,” Menendez said.
“The relationship between the US and Taiwan grows stronger and stronger as each year passes,” Rubio said. “We have stood with Taiwan in the face of tyranny and watched as its people overcame fear to live in peace.”
“The ‘six assurances’ that [former US] president Ronald Reagan put in place more than 34 years ago are as valid today as they were in 1982,” he said.
Rubio said the resolution was especially timely, because it came as Taiwan was celebrating the inauguration of Tsai.
“Another peaceful transfer of power in Taiwan is just the latest symbol of what an open, vibrant society Taiwan has become,” he said.
Rubio, a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, said he looked forward to working with Tsai “to deepen the relationship between Taiwan and the US and take it to new levels.”
“We must be watchful in the coming weeks and months for any attempts by Beijing to subvert Taiwan’s triumph of democracy to advance its own agenda,” he said.
“That is why it is important that we speak with one voice as a Congress to reaffirm the importance of the ‘six assurances’ to our relationship for the years to come,” Rubio added
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