The US House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday introduced resolutions reaffirming US ties with Taiwan and voicing concern over Chinese interference in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections tomorrow, while the White House said it plans to send an unofficial delegation to the nation after the elections.
US senators Dan Sullivan, a Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Democrat, introduced a bipartisan resolution “commending Taiwan for its commitment to democratic elections and institutions, despite ongoing threats from the Chinese Communist Party,” Sullivan’s office said in a news release.
US representatives Gerry Connolly, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ami Bera and Andy Barr, cochairs of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, introduced a companion resolution in the US House of Representatives, Connolly’s office said.
Photo: Reuters
The resolutions were cosponsored by more than one-third of US senators and 35 US representatives, including House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party chair Mike Gallagher, committee ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi and House Committee on Foreign Affairs chair Michael McCaul.
Sullivan, who has “repeatedly praised Taiwan for its democratic achievements,” called on the US to “show steady, unwavering commitment and resolve in support of Taiwan’s democracy” between the elections tomorrow and the presidential inauguration on May 20, the news release said.
It is also critical for the US to “enhance cross-strait deterrence” in this “volatile and potentially dangerous time,” he said.
He praised Taiwan as “one of the freest countries in the world” and said that elections in the nation pose threats to “the central premise of the Chinese Communist Party — that one dictator ruling in perpetuity knows what’s best for 1.4 billion people.”
“Millions of Chinese on the mainland will be watching Taiwan’s upcoming election and asking the question: ‘Why can’t we do that?’ This is a giant vulnerability for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping (習近平),” he said.
It is important that “the Taiwanese people know that they have our [the US’] support,” Kaine said, adding that Chinese attempts to interfere in the elections “will not be tolerated.”
Connolly underlined the importance of “institutions and rejecting authoritarianism at home and abroad,” while McCaul called on democracies around the world to support Taiwan against Beijing’s disinformation campaign.
Taipei’s close ties with the US are “key to our national security, benefits the global community and is critical to prosperity in the region,” Diaz-Balart said.
The elections are a testament to the Taiwanese people’s “strong commitment to democratic governance despite disinformation and coercion from Beijing,” Bera said.
“The liberty enjoyed by the residents of Taiwan stands in stark contrast to the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ experienced by the residents of the People’s Republic of China,” the resolutions read.
Americans and Taiwanese have been standing “as partners against coercion, threats of war and armed attacks” from China since 1949, they say.
Regardless of the outcome of the elections, the US Congress is “committed to continuing a strong partnership across diplomatic, information, military, economic and cultural domains,” they say.
The resolutions also affirm the US Congress’ commitment to supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capacity and the freedom of its people “through effective deterrence using all elements of United States power.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the US Congress for showing strong bipartisan support for democracy and freedom in Taiwan through legislation ahead of the elections.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the administration of US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the US would send an unofficial delegation of former senior officials to Taiwan shortly after the elections.
The official confirmed the plan without offering more details, but said such a face-to-face meeting was the “most effective way” to engage the new Taiwanese government and convey US policy in the region.
The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, said the White House believed the move would contribute to peace and stability in the region.
The official acknowledged a period of higher tensions lies ahead with Taiwan’s elections, but said there have been “contingency conversations” in the US government for dealing with them.
The official added that the White House is also engaging with Beijing on Taiwan to manage “difficult situations” and avoid unintended conflict.
The administration opposes any outside interference in Taiwan’s election and has repeatedly raised the concern with Chinese officials, they added.
Additional reporting by AP
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS