The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act of 2023 and the Pressure Regulatory Organizations To End Chinese Threats to Taiwan (PROTECT) Act, aimed at countering China’s efforts to exclude the nation from participating in international financial institutions.
The House Financial Services Committee said in a statement that the non-discrimination act, sponsored by US Representative Young Kim, would require the US to advocate for Taiwan’s membership in the IMF.
The bill says that Taiwan is the 21st-largest economy in the world and the US’ 10th-largest goods trading partner, and that although it is not an IMF member, it is a member of the WTO, the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Photo: AFP
“The experience of Taiwan in developing a vibrant and advanced economy under democratic governance and the rule of law should inform the work of the international financial institutions, including through increased participation by Taiwan in the institutions,” it said.
The PROTECT Act, sponsored by US Representative Frank Lucas, is aimed at isolating the Chinese Communist Party from the international financial system by directing the US Federal Reserve, the US Secretary of the Treasury and the US Securities and Exchange Commission to exclude Chinese representatives from the proceedings of international financial groups and organizations if China were to invade Taiwan.
The international financial organizations listed in the bill included the G20, the Bank for International Settlements, the Financial Stability Board, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
Photo: AFP
In the wake of the House passing the PROTECT bill, Kim wrote on X: “We cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party to keep Taiwan out of international organizations.”
“I’ll always be a voice for our freedom-loving partners across the globe,” she wrote.
The bills are to proceed to the US Senate and if passed there, would be sent to the president to be signed into law.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS