Two US senators on Wednesday introduced bipartisan legislation that they said is aimed at lowering tensions and reducing the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The Taiwan Actions Supporting Security by Undertaking Regular Engagements (Taiwan ASSURE) Act, proposed by Democratic Senator Edward Markey and Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, supports dialogue to mitigate misunderstandings and promote transparency, a statement issued on Friday by Markey’s office said.
“We must find ways to lower tensions and avoid miscalculation in the Taiwan Strait,” said Markey, who chairs the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The proposed legislation would authorize about US$2 million annually from next year to 2025 for the US Department of State and Department of Defense to support strategic dialogues to be facilitated by independent nonprofit organizations in which participants meet to discuss cross-strait stability issues.
The proposed act says that the US should engage regional counterparts in these dialogues to increase strategic awareness among all parties, as well as facilitate US-China dialogues.
“Bilateral confidence-building measures and crisis stability dialogues between the United States and the PRC [People’s Republic of China] are important mechanisms for maintaining deterrence and stability across the Taiwan Strait and should be prioritized,” the statement said.
The US and China should prioritize the use of a military crisis hotline so leaders of the two countries can communicate directly in order to quickly resolve misunderstanding that could lead to military escalation, the bill says.
The legislation would require the US state and defense secretaries to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a partnership between the US National Guard and Taiwan’s Reserve Command, a move that has been welcomed by the Taiwanese government but criticized by China as “playing with fire” and could have the effect of provoking Beijing into taking further military action.
The bill would also require the US state and defense departments to submit unclassified reports detailing the military-to-military dialogues and confidence-building measures, as well as diplomatic engagements in which cross-strait issues were discussed, between the US and China during the previous 10 years from the passing of the act.
The proposed bill would also allow the US to provide annual funding of US$6 million between next year and 2025 to the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a platform for Taiwan to share its expertise on issues from public health to disaster relief with international partners.
Markey said the US must continue to support Taiwan’s participation in the international community and “help the country withstand cross-strait coercion, while taking clear action to avoid conflict in the region.”
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