The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday passed three bills, of which one contained a provision that supports Taiwan’s inclusion in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The three bills — the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act, Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act and the Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act — will now be advanced for debate on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Of the draft bills, the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act, or USA Act for short, seeks to hold the People’s Republic of China (PRC) accountable for the violation of U.S. airspace and sovereignty with its high-altitude surveillance balloons, according to its sponsors.
The sponsors said that the bill, introduced by ranking member Gregory Meeks, would require that the U.S. government use regulatory and enforcement tools to protect national security, including the imposition of sanctions on any Chinese individual the U.S. president determines is directly managing and overseeing China’s alleged global surveillance balloon program.
Such examples include freezing the said person’s assets in the United States, refusing/denying to issue him/her visas as well as entry into the country, according to the bill.
It would also ask the United Nations and ICAO to condemn the PRC’s violation of U.S. sovereignty.
Prior to the bill’s hearing on Wednesday, Representative Young Kim proposed an amendment to include a provision that would require the United States to use its voice at ICAO to “support Taiwan’s participation in the events and meetings of that Organization.”
But despite Meeks going against the idea, who said the USA Act has nothing to do with Taiwan, the bill was subsequently approved that day in a 25-15 vote.
Meanwhile, the proposed legislation on Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act seeks to give U.S. President Joe Biden the power to ban the social video app TikTok, while the bill on Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act seeks to appropriate US$325 million for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to “counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party and the PRC government and entities acting on their behalf globally.”
The three bills came one day after the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Financial Services Committee advanced a series of bills in support of Taiwan.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel