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• Taiwan hosts lawmakers to push China sanctions

  • Reuters, WASHINGTON
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  Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Tuesday hosted dozens of international lawmakers who back sanctions on China for aggression toward Taiwan, a show of support for Taipei amid military pressure from Beijing.

  The unannounced gathering of about 60 lawmakers from Europe, Asia and Africa at Taiwan’s sweeping hilltop diplomatic mansion in Washington — Twin Oaks — is the latest move in Taipei’s efforts to persuade fellow democracies to stand against China since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened concerns that Beijing could attempt to take the nation by force.

  The group, consisting of members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) gathering in Washington this week, is expected to sign a pledge to push their governments to adopt “greater deterrence against military or other coercive” actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against Taiwan, a draft seen by Reuters says.

  

  Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim speaks during an interview in Taipei on Oct. 19, 2016.

  Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters

  “We will campaign to ensure our governments signal to the PRC that military aggression towards Taiwan will cost Beijing dearly. Economic and political measures, including meaningful sanctions, should be considered to deter military escalation, and to ensure trade and other exchanges with Taiwan can continue unimpeded,” the draft said.

  It added that their countries’ ties to Taiwan were not Beijing’s to determine, and that they would push to increase mutual visits by lawmakers.

  Sources familiar with the issue have told Reuters that Washington is considering sanctions against China to deter it from invading Taiwan, with Taipei calling on the EU to do the same.

  Hsiao, speaking to the lawmakers — who according to a guest list seen by Reuters hailed from states including the UK, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Lithuania, Ukraine, New Zealand and the Netherlands — told the gathering: “It is important to demonstrate to the bully that we have friends, too.”

  “We are not seeking to provoke the bully, but neither will we bow to their pressure,” Hsiao said.

  She welcomed two Ukrainian representatives at the event.

  “We certainly hope that as the international community stands with Ukraine, that the international community will also stand with Taiwan ... that together we can deter the further aggression coming from China,” she said.

  The IPAC pledge, which was expected to be signed yesterday, also calls for countries to secure supply chains from forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, and to pursue sanctions on Chinese officials for abuses in Hong Kong and on Chinese companies that support Russia’s military industry.

  China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, who acts as the US’ IPAC cochair with US Senator Marco Rubio, told an IPAC briefing at the US Capitol that a US bill to support Taiwan would face some changes during a scheduled review this week, but that the “thrust” would remain the same.

  An initial version of that bill threatens severe sanctions against China for any aggression against Taiwan, and would provide Taiwan with billions of US dollars in foreign military financing in coming years.

  Rubio said he believed the administration of US President Joe Biden was divided over how to approach prospective sanctions against China, and that although Beijing appeared to be taking steps to insulate itself from such actions, Washington needed be clear about the costs of hostility across the Taiwan Strait.

  “It’s important for us to be prepared to proactively outline — whether it’s through legislation or through an executive announcement, exactly what the economic consequences will be if such an act of aggression goes forward,” Rubio told the briefing.
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