US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation.
The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement.
“Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
As Taiwan is a “vital trading partner and ally in the Indo-Pacific region,” the US must “assist our allies in stabilizing their economies and growing their national industries,” it said.
Schatz, who represents Hawaii and is a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said that the bill would help “unlock more economic opportunities for the people of Taiwan, Hawaii and our entire country.”
“The CCP’s campaign for global dominance also presents a clear threat to US interests,” Blackburn said.
The US needs to secure the homeland and the act would assist in “achieving enhanced security at foreign airports,” as it requires the federal government to study the feasibility of establishing a “preclearance” facility in Taiwan, she said.
Preclearance is the “strategic stationing of [US] Customs and Border Protection personnel at designated foreign airports to inspect travelers prior to boarding US-bound flights,” the statement said.
The measure would “enhance security, increase collaboration and streamline travel,” it said.
There is currently no preclearance facility in Asia, despite “an annual average of over 4 million travelers from the continent,” it added.
US lawmakers had pushed for Taiwan’s participation in a preclearance program in December 2021.
However, then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) in March 2022 said that “the US thought Taiwan was too safe and had to prioritize more dangerous regions.”
Separately, members of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that asks the US Department of State to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan.
US representatives Ann Wagner, Gerry Connolly and Ted Lieu reintroduced the Taiwan assurance implementation act, which passed the House in 2023, but did not make it through the Senate.
The new version of the bill would again require the state department to conduct periodic reviews of its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan and Taiwanese officials, the three lawmakers said in a separate statement.
The reviews must include explanations of how the guidance deepens and expands US-Taiwan relations, and consider that “Taiwan is a democratic partner and a free and open society that respects universal human rights and democratic values,” it said.
They should also “identify opportunities to lift any remaining self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement and articulate a plan to do so,” it said.
After severing ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1979, Washington developed guidelines to limit official interactions with Taipei, including barring senior US executive branch officials, including high-ranking military officers, from visiting the nation.
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo removed the guidelines at the end of Donald Trump’s first term as US president, but many of the restrictions were put back in place by the administration of former US president Joe Biden.
Wagner said in the statement that “the Taiwan assurance implementation act will deepen the relationship between our countries and will signal to the world that the United States will never kowtow to communist China.”
“Now more than ever, it is imperative for the United States to demonstrate its unwavering support for our friend and ally, Taiwan,” Connolly said.
“This [bill] will allow for a more unified approach in coordinating US-Taiwan relations and strengthen our essential partnership,” Lieu said in the statement.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the