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
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
RSS