US Senator Ted Cruz yesterday reintroduced a bill that would allow Taiwanese diplomats and military personnel to display the Taiwan flag and wear uniforms while in the US on official business.
The draft bill, obtained by CNA, is titled "The Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty (Taiwan SOS) Act" and seeks to permit Taiwan armed forces and government officials "to display symbols of Republic of China [Taiwan] sovereignty," including the national flag and corresponding emblems or insignia of military units.
If the bill becomes law, it would reverse a decision made in 2015 by the administration of then-US president Barack Obama on the issue.
Photo: AFP
The 2015 decision followed strong protests by the Chinese embassy in Washington and criticism by the US government of a flag-raising ceremony that was held on New Year's Day at Twin Oaks Estate, which was the residence of Republic of China (ROC) representatives to the US before the US severed diplomatic ties with the ROC in 1979.
It was the first time in 36 years that Taiwan had held a national flag-raising ceremony at Twin Oaks, a move that the US said was inconsistent with its "one China" policy, which formally recognizes China instead of Taiwan, a diplomatic source said.
The Obama administration, therefore, revised the US guidelines on exchanges with Taiwan, barring Taiwanese diplomats from entering US Department of State facilities, prohibiting the raising of the Taiwan flag at Twin Oaks and restricting any display of the flag on US government property, the source said.
Yesterday, Cruz was cited as saying that he did not support that stance and had been trying for years to change it.
"The Obama administration did enormous damage to American national security when it first implemented these prohibitions against our Taiwanese allies, and I have been battling this policy ever since," Cruz was quoted as saying in the National Review, a US conservative magazine.
He said the guidelines were revoked during the first administration of US President Donald Trump, but were reinstated after former US president Joe Biden took office, "to the detriment of the safety and security of Americans and our allies."
"There has been broad, explicit bipartisan support for rescinding these prohibitions, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has advanced this language to do so. I am confident they will do so again, and I call on my colleagues in the Senate to advance it to passage," he was quoted as saying in the report.
Cruz had proposed similar bills in 2020 and 2022, which were reviewed by the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, but were not passed.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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