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.
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