A bipartisan group of US senators last week introduced a bill to sanction Beijing if it wages war against Taiwan.
The bill would oblige Washington to impose sanctions on China should the US president determine that Beijing or any of its proxies has launched a military invasion of Taiwan, the lawmakers said.
US senators Tammy Duckworth and Dan Sullivan, a Democrat and Republican respectively, jointly sponsored the draft act entitled the “sanctions targeting aggressors of neighboring democracies (STAND) with Taiwan act of 2024.”
A Taiwanese flag, right, and a US flag are pictured in Taipei on Feb. 22.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, Bloomberg
The bill is to be deliberated by the US Senate Committee on Armed Services.
The bill stipulates a comprehensive package of sanctions that would block Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and Chinese financial and industrial institutions from making transactions with US-based financial institutions, Sullivan’s office said in a statement.
US financial institutions — banks, private equity firms, venture capital groups and hedge funds — would be barred from making any investment that benefits the CCP and its affiliates, while the bill also places restrictions on the importation of goods manufactured in China, it said.
“It is critical that America show steady, unwavering bipartisan commitment and resolve in support of Taiwan’s democracy,” Sullivan was quoted as saying. “Every day, the CCP grows bolder and more aggressive in its threats against Taiwan, the United States and our allies in the Indo-Pacific.”
“I have always believed that if America wants to remain a global leader, we have to show up and support our friends like Taiwan,” the Republican senator’s statement quoted Duckworth as saying.
Taiwan is “a partner that our nation has strong economic and military ties with, who are facing escalating threats from the People’s Republic of China as they work to strengthen their own democracy,” she said.
Sullivan and Duckworth told Taiwanese officials about the bill in May during their visit to Taiwan at the head of a congressional delegation, which additionally included US senators Chris Coons and Laphonza Butler.
Sullivan and fellow Republican US Senator Roger Marshall first introduced a STAND with Taiwan act in 2022.