The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed an annual defense policy bill with provisions to reinforce the country’s partnership with Taiwan, including requiring the US president to invite the nation’s military to join US-led drills in the Asia-Pacific region.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which authorizes annual programs and spending for the US Department of Defense and other US national security programs, was passed by 329 yes votes, while 101 representatives voted against the bill.
Several pro-Taiwan bills were passed as amendments to the act.
Photo: Reuters
They included the Taiwan Peace and Stability Act, which focuses on enhancing deterrence measures in the Taiwan Strait; the Taiwan Fellowship Act, which is to give US policymakers the opportunity to live and work in Taiwan; and the Arms Exports Delivery Solutions Act, which seeks to track and expedite deliveries of US arms sales to Taiwan amid growing cross-strait tensions.
US Representative Ami Bera, who introduced the Taiwan Peace and Stability Act with US Representative Steve Chabot, called the passage of the act “great news.”
Bera — a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Central Asia — wrote on Twitter that the passage of the act showed bipartisan support for Taiwan.
“This bipartisan legislation strengthens the U.S.-Taiwan partnership and enhances deterrence over Beijing’s attempts to intimidate and isolate #Taiwan,” Bera wrote.
In a separate statement on his Web site, Bera said the Taiwan Peace and Stability Act “signals a path forward on U.S. policy toward Taiwan.”
“Specifically, the legislation drives a whole of government review of options to enhance deterrence over a cross-Strait conflict, strengthens U.S. support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community, and advances U.S.-Taiwan economic ties,” he wrote.
The summary about the defense authorization act released by the House showed the legislation would reaffirm US support for the defense of Taiwan, while aiming to reaffirm the US Indo-Pacific Command’s authority to conduct joint exercises with Taiwan, “no matter what the Chinese say.”
In addition, it requires the administration of US President Joe Biden to invite Taiwan to join the 2024 Rim of the Pacific exercise to improve the readiness of the nation’s forces and fully fund military exercises with its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s increasing reach.
The defense authorization act also requires the US government to assess Taiwan’s air defense capabilities and recommend ways to improve them, while requiring regular updates on the status of deliveries of US military assistance to Taiwan and efforts to expedite such deliveries.
As the bill included 650 amendments, the full content is not to be released until the House’s staff complete the compilation.
On June 16, the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee passed its own version of the defense authorization act, but the legislation is pending approval from the full Senate.
Typically, chambers of the US Congress would pass their own versions of such an act and negotiate a reconciliation of the bills before sending it to the president to sign into law.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked Congress for deepening bilateral military cooperation and exchanges, saying that the passage of the bill “showed the US Congress’ bipartisan support for Taiwan’s national defense ability, and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The ministry said it would continue to monitor the review process of the defense authorization act, and keep in touch with the US agencies and congress members involved.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS