US Senator Rick Scott and US Representative Scott Perry on Wednesday introduced a bill seeking to designate Taiwan as a “NATO Plus” partner of the US to facilitate easier and faster arms sales.
The US Senate version of the bill, introduced by Scott, states that Taiwan should be designated a “NATO Plus” partner so that it can enjoy the same privileges as Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Israel.
“The Taiwan PLUS Act will cut red tape and make it faster and easier for Taiwan to purchase the weapons it needs from the US to defend itself should communist China invade,” he said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
In a separate statement, Perry, who is leading the companion legislation in the House of Representatives, said such a designation would elevate Taiwan to “the same status as trusted US defense partners like Australia, Israel and Japan.”
“Taiwan already is one of the United States’ closest defense collaborators — the top Foreign Military Sales customer in FY [fiscal year] 20, and historically tied with Japan as the third-largest buyer since 1950,” he said.
The bill was proposed on the same day that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for reforms to the Foreign Military Sales program to address delays in sales and financing deals.
“We get so many complaints,” Rubio said during a Congressional hearing on the US Department of State’s budget for next year. “Every bilateral engagement we have is someone complaining about some sale or even a financing deal that has been in place for five years and has not yet been delivered or has not yet been approved through the process.”
One of the leading priorities of the US administration is to reform the government program that facilitates arms sales to foreign countries and international organizations, he said.
Last week, US senators Pete Ricketts and Chris Coons made the first proposal for legislation to include Taiwan in the “NATO Plus” category.
“Our antiquated arms sales process and struggling defense industrial base have prevented Taiwan from getting the weapons it needs in a timely manner,” Ricketts said in a statement on the bill, titled Providing Our Regional Companions Upgraded Protection in Nefarious Environments Act, or the PORCUPINE Act.
Meanwhile, two US lawmakers sent a letter to the CEOs of three major hotel chains expressing concern about the establishments’ use of the term “Taiwan, China” on their Web sites and in promotional materials.
US Representative John Moolenaar — chair of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party — and US Senator Marsha Blackburn addressed the letter to executives of the Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt hotel chains.
The term “Taiwan, China” might be interpreted as “implicitly recognizing Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” which “stands in stark contrast” to the position of the US government, the members wrote.
The term lends “false credence to the PRC’s position of authority and sovereignty over Taiwan,” and is “detrimental” to Taiwan, “a thriving democracy and one of America’s top trading partners,” they said.
The US government “maintains robust ties with Taiwan and actively supports Taiwan’s participation on the international stage” through the Taiwan Relations Act, the lawmakers said.
In October last year, the US Department of State, along with the departments of agriculture and commerce, sent a letter to the CEOs and leaders of major Fortune 500 companies, urging them to refer to Taiwan as “Taiwan,” they said.
“Other major US companies with an international presence correctly identify Taiwan as an entity separate from that of China, and we urge your companies to follow suit,” Moolenaar and Blackburn wrote.
They also asked the hotels to provide information on when they began referring to Taiwan as “Taiwan, China” and whether that decision was influenced by China or related entities.
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