"Taiwan Policy Act" Causes Headache For White House

Tensions have increased between the White House and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as committee chair Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) leads a public drive towards “the most comprehensive restructuring of US policy toward Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.”

• The Foreign Relations Committee met behind closed doors yesterday to consider the Menendez-[Senator Lindsay] Graham (R-SC) Taiwan Policy Act 2022.
• The planned vote progress the bill was delayed and Taiwan's Liberty Times reported that the bill is "stuck in limbo," speculating that the Senate is "holding off from advancing the bill to avoid further angering China."
• According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is lobbying Democrat Senators to “put the brakes” on the “counterproductive” bill which would, “interfere with the decades-old approach of “strategic ambiguity,”” towards Taiwan.
• Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) who also sits on the Committee said: “The White House has significant concerns. I have significant concerns. I’m not sure this is the moment to throw out 40 years of policy.”
• Menendez published an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday outlining why US policy towards Taiwan must be revised. According to Menendez, China’s “plan of attack [is] eerily reminiscent of Mr. Putin’s in Ukraine,” and “accordingly, the United States needs less ambiguity to guide our approach to Taiwan.”
• Menendez continued: “We saw the warning signs for Ukraine in 2014 and failed to take action that might have deterred further Russian aggression. We cannot afford to repeat that mistake with Taiwan.”
• The Taiwan Policy Act '22 would “reinforce the security of Taiwan,” recognise Taiwan as a “major non-NATO ally,” and “expand Taiwan’s diplomatic space through its participation in international organizations and in multilateral trade agreements.”
• According to Menendez, his legislation would also “impose crippling economic costs if Beijing takes hostile action against Taiwan.”