US Representative Pat Harrigan yesterday introduced the Taiwan Energy Security and Anti-Embargo Act of 2026, saying it would ensure “Taiwan isn’t left vulnerable to supply shocks, coercion by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], or external geopolitical turmoil.”
“Energy is leverage,” Harrigan, a Republican, was quoted as saying in a statement from his office. “Beijing knows exactly where Taiwan is weakest — and global events today, from strikes in the Middle East to threats at chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, underscore that energy vulnerability is national security vulnerability.”
The bill would authorize the creation of a joint Taiwan-US energy security center to facilitate academic collaboration on energy security and mandate that the National Academy of Sciences report to the US Congress on ways to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
It would also authorize the US departments of commerce, defense, energy and state to promote US energy exports to Taiwan, and help Taiwan diversify and protect its energy infrastructure and supply.
The bill would “harden a critical weak point in the Indo-Pacific balance of power: Taiwan’s energy dependence,” the statement said.
Prioritizing US LNG exports to Taiwan would reduce hostile powers’ leverage over Taiwan’s energy supply, it said.
Enhancing Taiwan-US cooperation on energy security would also help protect Taiwan’s energy grids and storage systems from different forms of attack, it added.
The bill further calls for bilateral efforts to develop advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors, to provide “reliable baseload power less susceptible to external disruptions,” the statement said.
The bill would expand the US Maritime Administration’s authority to ensure that vessels “transporting critical energy and vital goods to Taiwan” remain available if commercial operators withdraw from the market due to foreign military threats.
It would have to pass the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, and be signed into law by the US president.
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Monday said that LNG supplies for this month and next month would require the equivalent of 22 shipments.
The ministry has secured 20 ships willing to make the trips and is searching for two more, Kung said, adding that LNG supplies for the two months are guaranteed.
Rumors that LNG supplies might be inadequate are “impossible,” Kung said, adding that Taiwan sources LNG from diverse suppliers, with about one-third coming from Qatar, while the remaining 60 to 70 percent comes from other countries.
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS