TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After the news on Wednesday (Sept. 14) that the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Taiwan Relations Act of 2022 for a vote on the senate floor, it was found that some language of the original draft had been altered in the final version.
Reports indicate that officials in the Biden administration pressured the senate committee to change some “symbolic” language in the bill to avoid hurting the feelings of Chinese leadership in Beijing. Prior to the committee vote, Beijing decried the bill as a means of “diluting the One China Policy,” reported the Financial Times.
Following the protestations of Chinese officials, the Biden administration leaned on members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to soften “symbolic” language which might upset Chinese leadership.
Among several minor adjustments relating to Taiwanese statehood, Liberty Times noted three significant items that were altered in the final draft.
A portion calling for the renaming of the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” in the U.S. to the “Taiwan Representative Office” was removed.
The bill also initially aimed to designate Taiwan as a “Main Non-NATO Ally.” However, the final draft muddies the change in designation by indicating that Taiwan will receive “treatment equal to” that of a Main Non-NATO ally.
Further, a provision regarding the appointment of directors for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was also changed. The bill initially called for AIT directors to be confirmed by the senate in the same manner as U.S. Ambassadors to other nations. That provision was removed.
Director of the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund, Bonnie Glaser, remarked that the Biden administration asked for the changes to the text. Glaser alleges that the original language of the bill might “give ammunition to Beijing’s assertions” that the U.S. is not honoring the One-China Policy.
Taiwan-based media analyst, Michael Turton, responded to Glaser’s assertions regarding the language of the text and the related concerns of both Beijing and the Biden administration.
“If the U.S. did nothing, Beijing would still make the same claims. The purpose of Beijing's noises is to gain it victories like this. Congrats, you've handed Beijing a victory that cost it nothing,” Turton remarked on Twitter.
Despite the changes, the act maintains almost all of the provisions in the initial draft. As the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez made clear to reporters, the bill “makes it very clear of (U.S.) support for Taiwan in many different dimensions and defense and the international realm and economic engagement.”
“It is incredibly supportive of Taiwan at a time that Taiwan needs that support to be clear as it deals with the aggression that China has shown in a way that it’s never shown before in the 43 or so years of the Taiwan Relations Act," said Menendez, per The Hill.