The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a foreign assistance spending bill with an amendment forbidding that funds be used to create, procure or display maps depicting Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China.
The amendment was introduced by five Republican representatives — Tom Tiffany, Steve Chabot, Scott Perry, Kat Cammack and Mike Gallagher — and passed unanimously in a bundle with a dozen other amendments.
“This is a common sense measure,” Tiffany said, speaking on the House floor on Wednesday. “As we all know, Taiwan has never been part of communist China. The Taiwanese people elect their own leaders, raise their own armed forces, conduct their own foreign policy and maintain their own international trade agreements.”
Photo: AFP
“By every measure, Taiwan is a sovereign, democratic and independent country,” he said. “Any claims to the contrary are simply false.”
Tiffany told his colleagues that the US should abandon its dishonest “one China” policy, which acknowledges “Beijing’s bogus argument that Taiwan is part of Communist China.”
While this amendment cannot achieve that goal, it would “at least require honest maps that stop perpetuating the ‘one China’ lie,” he added.
The full spending bill, titled “Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act 2022,” passed with a 217-212 vote. The bill next heads to the US Senate and, if approved, would be sent to US President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
In other news, a US Navy destroyer on Wednesday transited the Taiwan Strait, the seventh time a US battleship has navigated the waterway separating Taiwan and China since Biden took office on Jan. 20.
“The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Benfold conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on Wednesday through international waters in accordance with international law. The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.
“The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” it said.
Since January, US warships — all Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers — have made similar transits through the Strait.
The USS John S. McCain sailed through the waters on Feb. 4 and April 7; the USS Curtis Wilbur on Feb. 24, May 18 and June 22; and the USS John Finn on March 10.
Over the past few years, the US has sent warships into the region in what is seen as an attempt to counterbalance China’s growing military presence in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and neighboring waters, and to show its continued commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
In Taipei yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense confirmed the passage of the USS Benfold through the Strait.
During the ship’s passage, sailing from south to north, the military used joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools to monitor movements at sea and in the air around Taiwan, the ministry said, describing the situation as normal.
However, the US warship’s passage was met with strong criticism from China yesterday.
Shi Yi (施毅), a spokesperson for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, described the maneuver as yet another provocative move by the US.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect