A bill, known as the “Defund China’s Allies Act,” has been introduced in the US House of Representatives, seeking to “prohibit the availability of foreign assistance to certain countries that do not recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan.”
The bill was introduced by Republican representatives Andy Ogles, Tom Tiffany, Lauren Boebert, Josh Brecheen, Mary Miller and Barry Moore.
The 21 countries specified in the bill are mostly in Latin America and have no relationship with Taiwan. They include eight countries that have severed ties with Taiwan over the past few years: Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Photo: Reuters
Data on US foreign assistance showed that Washington provided nearly US$800 million in fiscal 2021 to advance ties with the 21 countries listed in the bill.
The bill says that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) global political influence campaign has contributed to numerous countries in Central America and the Caribbean switching political allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in the past few years.
“Given the proximity of these countries to the United States, these switches in political allegiances necessarily represent a more tangible threat to United States national security interests and must be confronted,” it says, adding that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “ongoing efforts to delegitimize Taiwan, if not checked, increases the risk of armed conflict by threatening to completely isolate Taiwan from any political support.”
It urges Washington to restrict foreign assistance to countries, “particularly those in the Western Hemisphere, who choose to offer full political support to the People’s Republic of China.”
It says that US efforts to condemn the 21 countries’ shift in allegiance to the PRC are undermined by “an incomprehensible adherence to the so-called ‘one China’ policy, on terms dictated by the Chinese Communist Party.”
The CCP has repeatedly used violence or the threat of violence to coerce Taiwan, which is a clear contradiction of the Taiwan Relations Act, as it reads “the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” the bill says.
The bill urges the US government to support full diplomatic ties with Taiwan and support Taiwan’s participation in international society, to combat the CCP’s efforts to delegitimize Taiwan.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS