A bill to encourage visits between the US and Taiwan at all levels was passed by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
The legislation now moves on to the floor of the House of Representatives.
The bill says that since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, ties between the US and Taiwan have suffered from insufficient high-level communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the US maintains on visits by high-ranking officials to Taiwan.
Photo: Huang Chung-shan, Taipei Times
“The United States government should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels,” the bill says.
At present, senior US government officials rarely visit Taiwan because of Washington’s formal ties with China and a lack of official relations with Taipei.
When then-US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy traveled to Taiwan in 2014, she was the first US Cabinet-level official to visit Taiwan in 14 years.
No other official of that level of seniority has visited since.
In a statement, committee chairman Ed Royce said the bill denounces the current practice of restricting official travel between the two sides and would serve to further strengthen the critical US-Taiwan partnership.
Before the Taiwan travel act can become law, it must be passed by both the House and the Senate, before being signed by US President Donald Trump.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) yesterday said the ministry welcomed and thanked the Foreign Affairs Committee for passing the bill, which was proposed by US Representative Steve Chabot, one of the cochairs of the House Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
“The ministry believes the bill fully demonstrates [the US Congress’] support for mutual visits of senior officials from Taiwan and the US, and the advancement of US-Taiwan ties,” Lee said in a statement.
As a similar bill with the same title has been introduced in the US Senate by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the ministry said it would be watching developments closely.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of
RSS