U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have introduced the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, which they tout as “the most comprehensive restructuring of U.S. policy towards Taiwan” since 1979. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Menendez, is scheduled to discuss the bill on Wednesday.
The bill would increase military support for Taiwan, expand Taipei’s role in international organizations, and lay out a sanction package against Beijing if it engages in any “significant escalation in hostile action” toward Taiwan.
The military changes would include shifting from selling Taiwan only defensive weapons, to selling “arms conducive to deterring acts of aggression by the People’s Liberation Army.” Some $4.5 billion in military assistance would be provided over four years.
The official summary of the bill says that it “[d]irects the U.S. federal government to engage with the democratic government of Taiwan as the legitimate representative of the people of Taiwan” and “[p]rohibits restrictions on federal government official interactions with counterparts in the Government of Taiwan.” It calls for de facto diplomatic treatment of Taiwan equivalent to a foreign government. It would call for changing the name of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office to the “Taiwan Representative Office.”
Absurdly, it deceitfully concludes: “Nothing in this Act may be construed (1) to restore diplomatic relations with the Republic of China; or (2) to alter the United States Government’s position with respect to the international status of the Republic of China.”
Read the summary and the bill.
