Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Tuesday thanked legislators in the US House of Representatives for passing the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act. The bill would empower the US government to publish the “illicit” financial assets of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
US Representative French Hill, who introduced the bill last year, said the legislation would put public pressure on the CCP, and could act as a deterrent to Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.
Beijing “has failed to deliver a social safety net and families are battered by sinking real-estate debt,” Hill said. “Let these corrupt officials explain to ordinary Chinese citizens how they acquired their riches on a government salary.”
Hill’s support for Taiwan is very welcomed, but his estimate of the bill’s impact is overly optimistic. To start, where would the US Department of the Treasury publish the information? Access to international media in China is limited under the CCP’s censorship.
The social media and content platforms most widely used in the US, including Facebook, X, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube, are all blocked in China. Content posted to Chinese social media such as Sina Weibo, WeChat and Douyin is also monitored by the CCP, and even code language — using intentionally misspelled words and homophones — that users employ to get around restrictions is quickly picked up by censors and removed. Those who persist in posting banned subject matter find their accounts blocked, and in the most egregious cases are imprisoned.
However, that is a moot point, as Chinese citizens are largely aware of corruption in their government already, but are powerless to act on that information.
Even outside of China, CCP members do not even attempt to hide illegal or questionable behavior, as three examples from 2022 demonstrate. Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye (盧沙野) said during an interview with French media on Aug. 3 that year that in the event of China’s annexation of Taiwan, Taiwanese would need to be “re-educated” to make them patriotic and accepting of unification.
This was followed by Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian (肖千) smiling on TV while discussing the arrest of Australian activist Drew Pavlou in the UK over false charges, from which he was later absolved. Then in October 2022, a Hong Kong dissident was dragged onto the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester, England, and beaten.
These sorts of actions are evidence that CCP officials care little what anyone knows or thinks about them. Financial restrictions could have more impact as a deterrent, but they need to be comprehensive and must target the CCP as a whole, which is outside the scope of the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act.
“This bill does not focus on retaliating against the Chinese government per se, but rather on individuals who are in that government,” Hill said.
It must be understood that in China there are no officials with individual interests, nor companies that can operate free from the CCP’s influence. In China, the party is everything.
To be effective, any legislation must threaten sanctions against China as a whole. Such legislation must entirely prohibit financial transactions, either direct or indirect, between tax-paying individuals or companies registered in the US and any entity in China.
Lessons from Russia show that to be effective, sanctions need to target trade funneled through third countries. US companies should also diversify their export partners and supply chains.
It is promising to see continued support for Taiwan’s defense from cross-party US officials, but legislation must promise truly impactful consequences to really serve as a deterrent to Chinese aggression.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed
RSS