U.S. Senate Committee passes TAIPEI Act

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/26
By: Stacy Hsu, Wen Kui-hsiang and Emerson Lim

Washington, Sept. 25 (CNA) The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday

passed the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act aimed at supporting Taiwan's international presence.

The act, authored by Republican Senator Cory Gardner and sponsored by Democratic Senator Chris Coons, was introduced in May to express U.S. support for Taiwan's diplomatic alliances around the world.

During deliberation over the bipartisan legislation, Gardner mentioned that China's bullying constitutes a "significant threat" to Taiwan's democracy, as shown in the recent shift of allegiance from Taipei to Beijing by the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.

Gardner said that the U.S. has been standing with Taiwan for a long time and that Congress has passed several bills that support Taiwan, such as the Taiwan Travel Act of March 2018.
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