It is unlikely that the proposed US Taiwan policy act would clear the US Congress this term, a senior Taiwanese official with knowledge of the issue said on Wednesday.
The bill was approved by a US Senate committee last week.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Taiwanese authorities “had known the proposed bill would not clear the current Congress before it was introduced to the Senate” in June.
The bill, which contains a pledge to provide Taiwan with up to US$6.5 billion in arms purchases, on Thursday last week passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a 17-5 vote and was sent to the US Senate for consideration.
However, some of the bill’s original proposals — including renaming Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, requiring Senate approval for the appointment of envoys to Taipei and designating Taiwan as a major non-NATO ally — were either removed or made nonbinding.
The official said it would be “highly difficult” for the bill to clear the Senate and the US House of Representatives before the congressional term ends on Jan. 3 next year.
The bill would also still need to be signed into law by US President Joe Biden.
Nevertheless, one of the bill’s sponsors, US Senator Robert Menendez, who also chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had hoped to “demonstrate his support for Taiwan” by sponsoring the bill, the official said.
Taipei and Menendez started discussing the bill in April, when the senator and the bill’s other sponsor, US Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, visited Taiwan.
Commenting on the bill at an event in Washington last week, US Representative Brad Sherman also said it was unlikely that the bill would clear the current Congress.
However, some of the bill’s provisions could be included in the proposed US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2023, which authorizes funding levels and provides key policy guidance for the US military, Sherman said.
The Taiwanese official held similar views, saying that Taipei hopes that provisions of the Taiwan policy act pertaining to national security would be included in the NDAA.
The source declined to elaborate, saying only that “we are still in the process of negotiating with their Congress.”
The US Congress has passed the NDAA every year for the past 60 years, the official said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS