The island of Taiwan, governed by the Republic of China (ROC), is located about 100 miles east of mainland China in the East China Sea. The ROC government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after fighting a civil war with Mao Zedong and the Communist Chinese Party. Since then, the ROC has exercised effective control over Taiwan and several outlying islands. The people of this democratic country believe they are a sovereign nation, but Communist China steadfastly maintains that Taiwan is part of China. It has threatened a forceful reunification if necessary.

China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any country which recognizes Taiwan. Only Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland and Tuvalu have embassies in Taiwan. Due to Chinese pressure, we broke off relations with Taiwan when we terminated our mutual defense treaty in 1979. But in 2019, much to China’s chagrin, we signed a consular agreement formalizing existent consular relations. Our Health and Human Services Secretary then made a formal visit to Taiwan the following year, angering China considerably. Although our relationship with Taiwan is still informal and unofficial, we continue to allocate about $50 billion to the ROC each year. Of this amount, about %15 billion is in military assistance and $35 billion is in economic aid.
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In response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, China initiated a series of military exercises that encircled Taiwan, and fired missiles which passed above it. Observers say tensions in the Taiwan Strait have reached levels not seen in nearly thirty years. Our armed forces are concerned that China could try to reunify the mainland with Taiwan faster than previously anticipated, and our Navy is eyeing a more immediate window for a potential conflict over this island-state.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.3110 - Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act of 2023
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Marco Rubio (FL)

• I oppose reforming current Taiwan policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Leader John Thune (SD).
• I support strengthening U.S. policy to support Taiwan amid China’s increased military and diplomatic aggression by stating the U.S. government departments and agencies:
  
  1.) May not formally or informally recognize China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan without the assent of Taiwan's people, as expressed through the democratic process.
  
  2.) Shall treat Taiwan's elected government as the legitimate representative of Taiwan's people.
  
  3.) Shall end the practice of referring to Taiwan's government as authorities.
  
  4.) Requiring the State Department to submit to Congress a report on cooperation between the United States and Taiwan to promote freedom, democracy, culture, and history in conjunction with Chinese language education.
  
  5.) Requiring the State Department to develop and implement a strategy to respond to Chinese government attempts to use misinformation, media manipulation, economic coercion, and other strategies against Taiwan or persons in Taiwan. The State Department and the Department of Defense shall report to Congress on deterrence of military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
  
  6.) Directing the President to establish an interagency Taiwan policy task force, which shall annually report to Congress a plan for enhancing U.S.-Taiwan relations.
  
  And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.