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.”
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