The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack.
The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says.
The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously.
Photo: AFP
“If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit assets of Beijing’s senior-most leaders, including the names of financial institutions and maintaining accounts,” Hill said during a speech to the House.
“Let these corrupt officials explain to ordinary Chinese citizens how they acquired their riches on a government salary,” Hill added, after suggesting that Beijing “has failed to deliver a social safety net and families are battered by sinking real-estate debt.”
“This bill goes beyond naming and shaming” as it would also “cut off access” to the US financial system for CCP officials and their “immediate family,” he said. “For Chinese officials whose families profit from their ill-gotten gains, they too will find the world becoming a much smaller place.”
The Arkansas representative said that the US’ formal diplomatic recognition of Beijing in 1979 was based on the premise that “the future of Taiwan would be determined by peaceful means.”
Any actions, including a blockade of Taiwan, would “threaten regional peace and security,” Hill said.
Sherman said that the bill “is designed to put the government of China on notice that the United States is closely watching its increasing threats toward Taiwan.”
“This bill does not focus on retaliating against the Chinese government per se, but rather on individuals who are in that government,” he said.
Sherman, who represents California’s 32nd district, said the measures stipulated in the act would only be triggered if the US president exercised their authority under Section 3 of the Taiwan Relations Act.
“I don’t expect that a triggering will ever occur, but it’s important to put Beijing on notice of what would happen if their threats against Taiwan raised to that level,” Sherman said.
In Taipei yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) expressed gratitude to the US Congress for using a “creative and effective way” to deter Chinese military aggression toward Taiwan.
“This kind of legislation allows us to jointly deter Chinese communist expansion and to uphold peace in the Indo-Pacific region, especially cross-strait stability and security,” Lin said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS