TaiwanPlus speaks to Soochow University political science professor Chen Fang-yu about two Taiwan-related bills that cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday.
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00:00So what's in these bills exactly? Do they signify a significant change in the U.S.'s stance on Taiwan?
00:06I would say that the U.S. Congress now enhanced its engagement with Taiwan, but there is nothing new.
00:14So it's an enhancement and also it changed some new rhetorics to signify that the U.S. is now engaged more with Taiwan
00:23and now firmly against China's rhetorics and propaganda in the international organization.
00:30Could these amendments have any practical impact for Taiwan?
00:33Most recently, Taiwan has been campaigning to join the World Health Assembly that's happening later in May.
00:39Could this improve their chances of gaining entry into international bodies?
00:44I would say that everything is possible.
00:46So we see that more and more countries, including the EU, the parliament, and also a lot of different countries
00:54have passed a similar act or resolution to support Taiwan.
00:59So if other countries see that Taiwan is now very important, then it is highly likely that Taiwan be engaged
01:05in the international organizations and related activities.
01:10Still, we are very difficult to enter in the formal meetings because of China's pressure.
01:16And what's next for these bills? Are they likely to pass the Senate?
01:19I think it's highly likely to pass the Senate because there's no one objecting of these acts.
01:27So the U.S. is clearly defines that it has adopting a whole of government approach on the competition with China.
01:36So fighting against China's legal claims on the Taiwan issues and the Taiwan Strait related issues are very important for the U.S. as well.
01:45The U.S. has made it very clear that it is against China's all of the legal claims on this area.
01:51And also, I think the most important part is that the U.S. is signaling that it opposes any unitary change on the cross-trade issues.