The draft Taiwan policy act (TPA) seeks to “strengthen Taiwan’s defense and deter the aggression of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP],” US Representative Michael McCaul said on Wednesday as he introduced the US House of Representatives’ version of the bill.
McCaul, the most senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the China Task Force, said in a news release that the bill is meant to establish “a comprehensive set of tools to increase Taiwan’s military capabilities to deter and defeat a CCP attack.”
“Taiwan is a critical national security partner for the United States whose democracy is under an unprecedented level of threat from the CCP,” McCaul said.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Now is the time to arm our ally — before an invasion occurs, not after,” he said. “I’m proud to introduce this important legislation with 36 colleagues to help improve Taiwan’s defense immediately. Deterrence is key to stopping the CCP from provoking a conflict that would seriously harm US national security.”
The House version was introduced after a bill bearing the same name was approved by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Sept. 14, after some modifications.
Some of the bill’s original proposals — including renaming Taiwan’s de facto US embassy, requiring Senate approval for Washington’s envoy to Taipei and designating Taiwan a “major non-NATO ally” — were either removed or made nonbinding in the wake of misgivings from the White House.
Despite this, the updated bill still includes provisions authorizing up to US$6.5 billion in financing from next year to 2027 for Taiwan to purchase US arms.
The House version keeps the Senate’s original proposal to rename the de facto embassy as the “Taiwan Representative Office” and elevates the top US diplomat in Taiwan with Senate confirmation.
It also includes clauses authorizing up to US$6.5 billion in US foreign military financing over five fiscal years to Taiwan and expressing support for a free-trade agreement with Taiwan.
The Senate version was introduced by US Senator Bob Menendez — chair of the Foreign Relations Committee.
It cleared the committee in a 17 to 5 bipartisan vote after some changes, which Menendez said were “minor” compared with provisions on defense assistance, which he described as “the core of the bill” alongside clauses relating to international forums and economic engagement.
To become law, the bill needs to pass the Senate and the House, and receive approval from US President Joe Biden before the conclusion of the 117th US Congress on Jan. 3 next year.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday said the proposed bill was “another friendly action by the House of Representatives to support deepening Taiwan-US relations after the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Senate version of the same bill on Sept. 14.”
“In the face of China’s military expansion and provocative actions toward Taiwan, the government will continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and firmly stand against authoritarian aggression,” she said. “We will also further deepen our close security partnership with the United States, with whom we will jointly maintain peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.”
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS