US Senators Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkley have introduced a bill called the Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act. The two senators introduced the bill on Tuesday in a show of Taiwan's importance to US foreign policy. The bill aims to update US policy in light of the challenges and threats posed to Taiwan by China's Communist Party.
The senators say that Taiwan's democracy is critical to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The bipartisan act would upgrade the title of the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan to “Representative” and make it into a Senate-confirmed position.
It also mandates strategies to protect US businesses and groups from Chinese government coercion. In addition, the act would have the US work with Taiwan to respond to China's sharp power operations against persons and entities in Taiwan.
The act also calls for resumed talks on a bilateral free trade agreement between Taiwan and the US.
On the soft power front, the bill would establish a US-Taiwan Cultural Exchange Foundation that would encourage educational exchanges. It would also have the US State Department work with the Taiwan government to create an alternative to China's Confucius Institutes.
The act calls for a report on the implementation of the Taiwan Travel Act and the invitation of Taiwanese officials to high level forums and military training exercises.
It would also create an inter-agency Taiwan policy task force to outline plans for enhancing US relations with Taiwan, and it would encourage Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations.
In terms of Taiwan's relations with China, the act states that the US opposes any deadline for Taiwan's unification with China. It also states that the US opposes the imposition of China's “one country, two systems” formula on Taiwan. The act says that Taiwan's sovereignty should be decided by the people of Taiwan through their democratic processes.