US Representative Ed Royce, a strong supporter of Taiwan, has been officially chosen to become the next chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs.
It is an important appointment for Taipei because the committee chairman controls hearings and is strongly positioned to promote the legislation that he favors.
A Republican, Royce is taking over from another supporter of Taiwan, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
House Republicans impose a six-year term limit on the committee chairperson and Ros-Lehtinen’s tenure was up.
Republican leaders picked Royce over Representative Chris Smith.
Royce has co-sponsored six pro-Taiwan pieces of legislation over the past two years and is a founding member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
He has fought hard, but unsuccessfully, for a free-trade agreement (FTA) for Taiwan and has co-sponsored Taiwan FTA bills.
One such bill managed to pass the House Committee on Foreign Affairs a few years ago.
“The truth is that trade is very important to Taiwanese security,” Royce said.
“Security isn’t based on weapons alone. It may be wishful thinking with this administration and Congress, but I’d like to see movement on a free-trade agreement with Taiwan. Certainly, if we throw up trade barriers, it would significantly destabilize Taiwan’s economy. Let’s not give free trade short shrift,” he added.
As committee chairman he will almost certainly continue to promote an FTA with Taiwan, but the administration of US President Barack Obama is unlikely to get behind the idea and FTA legislation would probably be killed in the Senate.
Royce is also a strong proponent of the sale of F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
“Taiwan faces one of the most complex and lethal military threats in the world,” the US representative said recently.
“Across the region, in response to China’s buildup and increasing assertiveness, China’s neighbors are moving to strengthen their security relationships with the US. This gravitation to the US will only last as long as the US is seen as a credible guarantor of stability. Moving forward with this F-16 sale would be an appropriate signal to Taiwan and to the region,” Royce added.
When former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited the US, Royce co-sponsored a resolution welcoming him.
Recently, Royce wrote to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) calling for medical parole for Chen, who is serving an 18-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption.
“I have worked closely with Ed over the past years and I know he will be able to lead our committee through the tough foreign policy challenges that face our country,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
She said that Royce’s leadership and determination would help guide US foreign policy “in the right direction” to better serve the interests of the people.
“Ed Royce truly cares about the best interests of Taiwan,” Formosa Association for Public Affairs official Coen Blaauw said. “He will do whatever he can to help the island [Taiwan].”
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS