The US Senate on Tuesday passed legislation asking the government to help Taiwan keep its remaining 15 diplomatic allies, while supporting its international presence.
The legislation titled Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act of 2019, or TAIPEI Act 2019, was unanimously passed.
The act, initiated by US Senator Cory Gardner, was introduced in May to express US support for Taiwan’s diplomatic alliances.
In September last year, Gardner initiated TAIPEI Act 2018, but it failed to clear the Senate.
This year’s act authorizes the US Department of State to consider “reducing its economic, security and diplomatic engagements with nations that take serious or significant actions to undermine Taiwan.”
The US government should also help Taiwan gain participation in international organizations, either as a member or an observer, and express its support for Taiwan’s international participation when it interacts with Beijing, the act says.
The bill’s passage came one day before the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee was set to review its own version of the act.
Once it passes the House, a committee made up of both legislative bodies would work out differences between the two versions to come up with a single version before returning the bill to both bodies for approval.
The act would then be sent for the approval of US President Donald Trump, who would have 10 days to sign it into law, or veto it.
In related news on Tuesday, the nominee to become the next US ambassador to the Marshall Islands pledged to do her best to help Taiwan keep the Pacific ally.
Speaking at her nomination hearing before the Senate, Roxanne Cabral said that the Marshall Islands, as one of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic partners, “plays an important role in maintaining stability in cross-strait relations.”
She pledged, if confirmed as ambassador, to work hard to maintain the US’ strong partnership with the Marshall Islands, together with Taiwan.
Asked what she would do keep the Marshall Islands as a close ally of the US and Taiwan, she said that pushing back against China would be important.
“If confirmed, I would try to strengthen this relationship, encourage a stronger relationship and help the Marshall Islands create an environment that can push back on predatory economic practices of China that we have been seeing around the world,” she said.
Cabral listed ways to support Taiwan and fight against Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which the US sees as creating debt traps in the countries that join the initiative.
Transparency should be increased and “bad deals” exposed, while also providing better alternatives and maintaining a strong presence in the region, she told the hearing.
Cabral, who is likely to be confirmed, said there are positive signs that relations remain strong.
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine and the nation’s parliament expressed their support for Taiwan after it lost two Pacific allies last month, while Heine visited Taiwan last week and witnessed the signing of two bilateral agreements, Cabral said.
The career diplomat most recently served as deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Panama. She has also served in Guangzhou, China, and speaks Chinese and Spanish, according to the US Department of State.
Four of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies are in the Pacific region: the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu.
The National Security Council has warned that the nation could lose more before the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
TRIP TO TAIWAN: The resumption of group tours from China should be discussed between the two agencies tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday reassured China-based businesspeople that he would follow former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy to facilitate healthy and orderly exchanges with Beijing and build a resilient economy. “As president, I have three missions. First, I will follow president Tsai’s ‘four commitments’ to ensure that the country continues to exist and survive,” Lai told participants at a Lunar New Year event in Taipei hosted by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Lai said his second mission is to uphold the “four pillars of peace” by bolstering national defense, developing a growing and resilient economy, building partnerships with
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
RSS