The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China.
The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20.
The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency for International Development] to provide foreign assistance to Taiwan’s official and unofficial partners subjected to coercion and pressure from the CCP.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Under the bill, the funding would be part of the Countering the People’s Republic of China Malign Influence Fund.
Countries that qualify would receive US$5 million a year. To qualify they must be able to advance Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international fora and multilateral organizations, diversify supply chains away from China, or build the capacity and resilience of civil society, media and other non-governmental organizations to counter China’s influence and propaganda.
The US encourages countries that have no official ties with Taiwan to deepen their engagement with it, and would help countries that lack the economic or political ability to effectively respond to China’s coercion or pressure, the bill says.
“The Chinese Communist Party has spent decades trying to isolate the free people of Taiwan from the world stage and coerce other nations into severing relations with the thriving democracy,” committee Chairman John Moolenaar said in the statement.
Moolenaar proposed the bill along with Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks and US Congressional Taiwan Caucus cochairs Andy Barr, Ami Bera and Gerald Connolly.
“Our legislation will help Taiwan’s diplomatic allies resist CCP authoritarian pressure campaigns while meeting their development needs. The United States must stand with those who stand with Taiwan,” Moolenaar said.
Since 2013, China has enticed 11 countries to cut relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing, often through bribes and economic inducements, the committee said, adding that after Nauru switched recognition from Taiwan to China in January, Taiwan was left with only 12 diplomatic allies.
China has also weaponized trade and commercial ties to punish countries forging closer unofficial ties with Taiwan, including Lithuania, the committee added.
In the statement, Krishnamoorthi described Taiwan as “one of our closest friends in the world.”
The CCP’s “attempts to intimidate and influence countries who diplomatically recognize Taiwan and economically coerce those who seek to strengthen unofficial relations must be condemned and rejected,” he said.
“It is time for the United States to stand with Taiwan in the face of diplomatic pressure from Beijing that seeks to undermine Taiwan’s rightful participation on the international stage,” Krishnamoorthi said.
The bill is the first legislation co-proposed by Moolenaar after he assumed the chairmanship of the committee last month, when he said his priorities as the chairman included how to expand training programs for Taiwan’s military and eliminate bottlenecks that have left the nation waiting for years to receive the weapons it needs to defend itself.
He has pledged to work tirelessly to deter China’s military aggression against Taiwan and US allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
RSS