The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the US military budget for next year, with an amendment that stipulates that if the US Department of Defense invites Beijing to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), a similar invitation must also be extended to Taiwan.
The amendment was proposed by Mark Walker.
The amendment said that the US secretary of defense “shall invite the military forces of Taiwan to participate in any maritime exercise known as the Rim of the Pacific Exercise” if the secretary has invited the military forces of the People’s Republic of China to participate.
The amendment specified that “this section takes effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.”
The US National Defense Authorization Act, which passed 269 to 151, is to go to US President Barack Obama only after the US Senate passes the same or a similar bill.
China’s navy took part in RIMPAC — the largest international maritime warfare exercise in the world — in the summer of last year.
After being informed of the news, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said in Taipei that the Republic of China (ROC) military welcomed the development.
The ministry intends to play a more active role in regional security and shoulder more responsibility for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and is keen to be an observer at international organizations focused on security and cooperation while taking part in joint exercises, Lo said.
“We have expressed our willingness to take part in RIMPAC,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Admiral Chen Yung-kang (陳永康) said on April 20 in Taipei, local media reported last month.
Talks are under way between the Republic of China (ROC) Navy and the US Navy on the use of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), Chen told a committee meeting in the legislature.
After establishing a CUES protocol based on international radio signal communication procedures, the ROC Navy “could have the opportunity to take the next step of participating in joint multinational naval exercises,” Chen said.
Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and China reached agreement on the CUES with the US before being allowed to participate in joint exercises and expand cooperation between their armed forces and that of the US, Chen added.
Obama has threatened to veto the legislation, which US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter last week described as a road to nowhere, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Senator John McCain, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, said he hoped the two chambers would work together to produce a bill the president will sign, according to the Times.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS