The US House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific has amended and watered down a resolution offering strong support for Taiwan on the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
It has angered some members of the subcommittee and Congressional sources said that it came as a result of direct pressure from Beijing.
Subcommittee chairman Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa, who was chiefly responsible for changing the wording of the resolution, admitted later that he had experienced pressure “from both sides.”
He said that “things get very emotional” around the Taiwan issue and that the resolution as amended was more appropriate.
“It is better for the people of Taiwan,” he said.
Introducing his amended resolution, Faleomavaega said that the future of Taiwan was “for people on both sides of the Strait to resolve.”
Analysts said later that there appeared to be three substantive changes to the resolution, which now goes before the Committee on Foreign Affairs before being presented for full House approval.
The original resolution, as proposed by 18 members of the House, said it was the policy of the US to provide defense articles and defense services “in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”
But the new version replaces that language with “it is the policy of the US to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion.”
The reference to quantity was removed.
The original resolution also said that the relationship between the US and Taiwan had been strengthened with “the development of Taiwan’s robust free-market economy, with Taiwan becoming the ninth largest trading partner of the US in 2007 and imports from the US in that year totaling over US$26 billion.”
Faleomavaega shortened that statement to say relations had been strengthened with “the development of Taiwan’s robust free-market economy.”
The original, more detailed wording was designed to help efforts to push through a free-trade agreement with Taiwan.
Subcommittee member Edward Royce, a California Republican Representative, said: “While this resolution highlights many of the positive attributes of the US-Taiwan relationship, language detailing our important economic relationship was regrettably struck from the introduced text.”
“The truth is that trade is very important to Taiwanese security. Security isn’t based on weapons alone. It may be wishful thinking with this administration and Congress, but I’d like to see movement on a free-trade agreement with Taiwan. Certainly, if we throw up trade barriers, it would do much to destabilize Taiwan’s economy. Let’s not give trade short shrift,” he said.
Faleomavaega said later that he did not think the time was right for a free-trade agreement with Taiwan.
The third point, which concerns pro-Taiwan interests in Washington, comes in the interpretation of a single word.
The original resolution said that Congress “reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act as the cornerstone of United States relations with Taiwan.”
But Faleomavaega’s version reads that the TRA is simply “vital to relations between the US and Taiwan.”
Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Relations (FAPA), said: “Replacing ‘cornerstone’ with ‘vital’ is a big step in the wrong direction.”
“The changes have certainly weakened the resolution and they benefit the Chinese position. China does not want the TRA to be seen as the cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations,” Blaauw said.
In a message to members of the full committee, Blaauw said: “Maybe there is some political thing going on in Faleomavaega’s subcommittee and hopefully in the full Committee mark-up next week someone can bring the earlier language back, but the new text is really not good.”
“The reason why we at FAPA coined the phrase ‘cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations’ is, of course, because the Chinese always insist that the Three Joint US-China communiques are the cornerstone of the US-Taiwan-PRC triangular relationship. You know why: Because in the communiques the US acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China. The people of Taiwan had zero say in the conclusion of these three detrimental-to-Taiwan communiques,” he said.
In a press statement, TECRO in Washington put a brave face on the situation and said: “This resolution reaffirms the US’ unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act, reaffirms US support for Taiwan’s democratic institutions and supports the strong and deepening relationship between the US and Taiwan.”
“As the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the TRA draws near, the action by the US Congress today clearly demonstrates the friendly and close relationship between Taiwan and the US,” it said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS