In a move aimed to reinforce US-Taiwan relations, Republican Representative Steve Chabot on Wednesday introduced legislation to the US Congress to “reaffirm” the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances.”
“The Taiwan Relations Act and the ‘six assurances’ together form the cornerstone of US relations with Taiwan,” said Chabot, former chairman of the Asian subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
As a “sense of Congress” bill, the legislation is almost certain to pass.
Chabot said in his legislation that for more than 50 years a close relationship has existed between the US and Taiwan and that it had been “of major economic, cultural and strategic advantage to both nations.”
He said that Taiwanese had worked hard to establish a vibrant and pluralistic democracy, and conducted five successful presidential elections.
“The US has vital security and strategic interests in the Taiwan Strait with troops stationed in countries within the region,” Chabot said. “The TRA makes it the policy of the US to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social or economic systems of Taiwan.”
According to Mark Kao (高龍榮), president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, China has always had a “one-sided interpretation of their US agreements.”
Speaking after Chabot’s legislation had been introduced, he said that Beijing only mentioned the Three Communiques and tried to assert that under the “one China” principle Taiwan had always been part of China.
“This is simply untrue. The People’s Republic of China has never held sovereignty over Taiwan,” he said. “The Taiwan Relations Act is not just the law of the land, but the main cornerstone of the US relationship with Taiwan. It is critical that the ‘six assurances’ are also seen as an integral part and cornerstone of US-Taiwan relations.”
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS