The Democratic Party's dramatic victory in the US House of Representatives is expected to be a net plus for Taiwan, as Taiwan's supporters seek to exploit the split between the House Democratic majority and the Republican White House in the wake of congressional elections in which most backers of Taiwan retained their seats.
"Democratic control of the House is good for Taiwan," said Coen Blaauw, a veteran Washington lobbyist for the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, who feels the Democratic majority will be more willing than their Republican counterparts to buck US President George W. Bush and the
State Department in pushing for legislation about Taiwan opposed by the administration.
Most of Taiwan's biggest backers in the House retained their positions despite earlier fears that some could be defeated.
Three particular races attracted the most attention among Taiwan's supporters: representatives Sherrod Brown and Steve Chabot in Ohio and Senator George Allen in Virginia, all co-chairmen of Taiwan Caucuses in their chambers.
Republican Chabot, who is one of the most consistent champions of Taiwan in the House, scored an easy victory despite fears that he might have been brought down by scandals in his state's Republican party.
Democrat Brown, buoyed by the Republican state woes, upset Senator Mike DeWine to win a seat in the upper chamber. Brown has been the leading congressional promoter of Taiwan's right to participate in the WHO and its annual meeting in Geneva.
Brown's presence should give a boost to Taiwan in the Senate, which has been hesitant in recent years to move legislation of benefit to Taipei. And if he decides to join the Senate Taiwan Caucus, which has been less than active since it was formed three years ago, he could be a voice for greater activism.
In Virginia, Allen, a co-chairman of the Senate caucus, was running neck-and-neck with his Democratic opponent Jim Webb and the final results appeared heading for a recount. Allen had been an early favorite to retain his seat and be a possible 2008 presidential contender, but his campaign was tarred after he made a remark considered racist and was accused of other racist remarks in his career.
On a broader level, Taiwan's supporters are hoping the party split between the new House and the administration will give them some openings to promote Taipei's interests.
Republicans, who have been reluctant in recent years to take action at odds with an administration of their own party, were more actively supportive of Taiwan when former president Bill Clinton was in the White House, they recall.
They point to the fight over former president Lee Teng-hui's (
In recent years, however, while the House has given overwhelming approval to some pro-Taiwan legislation, other bills of equal importance were bottled up in committee and never even made it to the floor for debate or a vote, at a time when Bush has had to increasingly rely on China's cooperation in such crucial areas as North Korea and Iran.
Taiwan's backers are also looking at Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, who will become the new House speaker.
She is a fierce opponent of China's human rights violations and its political system, is favorably disposed to Taiwan and is expected to be very receptive to pro-Taiwan legislative activity.
The shift in the House will usher in a new slate of committee chairman, who are powerful arbiters of what bills advance and which issues warrant hearings and other attention and Taiwan could score some important points.
In the International Relations Committee, Chairman Henry Hyde, who has been one of Taiwan's most important supporters, is retiring this year and will be replaced by Representative Tom Lantos, an equally strong backer of Taipei.
Lantos was considered one of the Democrats most responsible for Lee's trip to Cornell.
A Holocaust survivor, Lantos is a leading force in human rights activism in Congress, and has long honored Taiwan's democratic movement.
In September last year, as chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, he presented President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) with the caucus' annual human rights award in a teleconference from Washington to Miami, where Chen was transiting en route to Latin America.
Replacing Hyde as minority leader of the committee, according to observers, is expected to be either Representative Dan Burton or Representative Lleana Ros-Lehtinen.
Both have spoken regularly on Taiwan's behalf, and both sponsored a resolution last year calling on Bush to abandon the US' "one China" policy in favor of a policy "that recognizes the Republic of China on Taiwan as a sovereign government."
In trade matters, Taipei could stand to benefit from the elevation of Charles Rangel as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, with authority over trade issues. That might make it easier to get legislation favoring a free-trade agreement (FTA) through the committee and on to the House floor.
However, political observers note that the Democrats have generally taken a dim view of free-trade pacts, and, with the law that facilitated such pacts expiring in the middle of next year, a Taiwan-US FTA might be even harder to obtain under the Democrats.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS