The US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt two new laws to substantially boost US relations with Taiwan.
While the bills may pass the full House, they are likely to fail in the Senate where US President Barack Obama’s administration has the votes to defeat them.
Nevertheless, the bills are an indication of just how much bipartisan support Taiwan enjoys on Capitol Hill.
“This legislation is designed to address the drift and lack of strategic thinking that has hurt the relationship [between the US and Taiwan] in recent years,” committee Chairperson Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said.
She said there were a growing number of policy revisionists and apologists who wanted to use Taiwan as a “bargaining chip” to placate China.
“It was due to concern over these voices of appeasement that I felt it necessary to further strengthen and clarify our relations,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “These concerns have only been amplified by the administration’s regrettable and shortsighted decision not to sell the next generation F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan, despite growing evidence of China’s increasing military threat to the island.”
“Taiwan needs those F-16s and she needs them now to defend the skies over the Taiwan Strait. And Taiwan needs diesel submarines, and she needs them now to protect her territorial waters from the rapidly expanding PLA [People’s Liberation Army] Navy,” she added.
The bills are the Taiwan Policy Act of 2011, H.R. 2918, “to strengthen and clarify the commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the US and Taiwan,” and the Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act, H.R. 2992, “to provide Taiwan with critically needed multirole fighter aircraft.”
“The bills considered and adopted today will help ensure that Taiwan’s peace, prosperity and security will be maintained for the next three decades and beyond,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
The second bill — if passed by both the House and Senate — would require Obama to sell 66 advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
“While the recent agreement by the US to upgrade Taiwan’s existing fleet of F-16s is a step in the right direction, Taiwan also urgently needs new advanced combat aircraft to help meet the growing menace from communist China,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
Ros-Lehtinen said that it was “long past due” for the White House to “cease its dithering” and sell Taiwan the F-16C/Ds.
Howard Berman, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said he was a strong supporter of Taiwan and that both of the bills would “bolster our bilateral relationship with an important friend and ally.”
Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Bob Yang later said: “This is a powerful signal to the people of Taiwan and the Taiwanese-American community in the US.”
He said the bills recognized the importance of the US-Taiwan relationship for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and for safeguarding freedom and democracy.
The Taiwan Policy Act contains more than 20 provisions that will “broaden and deepen” the bilateral relationship between the US and Taiwan in many ways, including trade and commercial ties, participation in international organizations and through the sale of defensive arms.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS