Voice of America
Date: August 03, 2020
By: Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – American lawmakers have introduced a flurry of bills in the past two years to improve Taiwan’s defenses and raise its international exposure as legislators backed by  President Donald Trump step up resistance against China, an old rival of Taipei, analysts say.  

At least five pro-Taiwan bills have appeared in the U.S. Congress since February 2018, an unusually fast pace. It’s largely because President Trump has championed Taiwan’s cause for self-rule since his inauguration in 2017 amid spats with China over trade and geopolitics. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory, not as an independent  state.  

Legislators, influenced by a Taiwan lobby in Washington as well as anti-China sentiments among American voters, have made the most of Trump’s policy to get their bills signed into law, political observers believe. Trump’s predecessors focused more on maintaining ties with Beijing.  

FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo released by Taiwan Presidential Office, Dec. 3, 2016, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump through a speaker phone in Taipei, Taiwan.

“As President Trump is so far the most pro-Taiwan U.S. president since de-recognition in 1979, Congress may want to send him as many Taiwan bills as possible, knowing that he'll actually sign them into law,” said Sean King, vice president of the Park Strategies political consultancy in New York.      [FULL  STORY]