US President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law a sweeping US$1.5 trillion spending bill, which includes a ban on the use of any maps by the US Department of State and its foreign operations that “inaccurately” depict Taiwan as part of China.
The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022, stipulates that “none of the funds made available by this Act should be used to create, procure, or display any map that inaccurately depicts the territory and social and economic system of Taiwan and the islands or island groups administered by Taiwan authorities.”
The bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, an omnibus spending bill, is to fund federal government agencies for the remainder of fiscal 2022 to avoid an immediate government shutdown. The US Senate on Thursday approved the bill 68-31 and sent it to the White House.
Photo: Screen grab from the National Football League Communications’ Twitter account
The appropriation act was proposed in July last year by lawmakers including Republican US representatives Tom Tiffany, Steve Chabot and Scott Perry, who are friendly to Taiwan.
The bill that same month passed the US House of Representatives by a 217-212 vote, but did not move beyond the Senate and was instead packaged into the omnibus spending bill following revisions.
The original bill had stipulated: “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to create, procure, or display any map that depicts Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou [烏坵, islands administered by Kinmen County], Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island [Lanyu, 蘭嶼] as part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China.”
Tiffany told the House that since the 1970s, the US has adopted a “one China” policy to accommodate Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China.
However, he said “Beijing’s bogus argument that Taiwan is part of Communist China” should be abandoned, adding that the bill would “require honest maps that stop perpetuating the ‘one China’ lie.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the Biden administration and US lawmakers for supporting Taiwan-US relations.
The ban on inaccurate maps shows that the US “recognizes Taiwan as not being a part of China and is willing to take legislative action to ensure truthful depictions of the situation across the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun said on Facebook that the ban would prevent US taxpayer money being spent on maps that show Taiwan as a part of China and instead use the funds to support “honest maps.”
“Taiwan is not a part of China. We thank US lawmakers in the US Senate and House of Representatives for their nonpartisan support of Taiwan and look forward to the growth of Taiwan-US relations,” he wrote.
The 2,741-page Consolidated Appropriations Act would also provide US$13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, as well as weapons to NATO’s eastern European members.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the aid would include US$1 billion in military assistance, such as Javelin and Stinger missiles, to cement the alliance’s military strength.
The financial assistance also aims to fend off cyberattacks from Russia, he added.
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu and Chung Li-hua
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures. The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.” The decision goes against EU foreign policy and contravenes democratic and human rights principles, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. Denmark should present a solution acceptable to Taiwan as soon as possible and correct the erroneous designation to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two nations, Hsiao said. The issue could damage Denmark’s image and business reputation in Taiwan,
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
RSS