TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The US House of Representatives on Monday (Sept. 9) passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act targeting the assets of senior Chinese officials to deter an invasion of Taiwan. 

The House discussed the act, co-sponsored by Republican Representative French Hill and Democratic Representative Brad Sherman in January last year. After several members spoke, the bill passed without objection.

The bill aims to disincentivize China's aggression toward Taiwan by publishing the assets of China's top leadership and cutting them and their families off from the US financial system.

Hill pointed out in his speech that if China chooses to attack Taiwan, the US Treasury Department will, according to law, disclose the illicit assets of Beijing's top officials, forcing them to explain to the public how they accumulated wealth at a time when the youth unemployment in China stands at 17%. He said Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) has failed to deliver a social safety net for the public, and many families are “battered by sinking real estate debt.”

He said the bill publicly names corrupt officials and cuts access to US financial services. “Let these corrupt officials explain to ordinary Chinese citizens how they acquired their riches on a government salary," said Hill.

Hill noted that the US's recognition of China in 1979 was based on the premise that Taiwan's future would be determined peacefully. He said other methods such as boycotts and embargoes of Taiwan threaten peace and security in the Western Pacific.

After the bill's passage, Hill said, “I applaud the passage of my bipartisan bill to expose the financial corruption of top Chinese leaders and their families triggered should China dare to utilize military force to take control of Taiwan and am pleased my bill is one step closer to becoming law.” He added, “We must demonstrate unified strength in curbing Chinese aggression and thereby safeguarding our strategic interests and those of our allies.”

Sherman said the bill is “designed to undermine the support of the Chinese Communist Party and its level of support inside China, once we publish the corrupt gains of some of its high-ranking officials.” Under the bill, Sherman said if a US president decides to take action in response to a serious threat to Taiwan, the US would take two actions against their top officials. 

"First, we would name and shame, we would publicize their assets, wherever they may be in the world. Second, we would deny them and their immediate families access to the American financial system,” Sherman said. 

He concluded that it was time for China to “give up the idea of intimidating the people of Taiwan” and to recognize the US would launch military and economic responses and “very personal economic disclosures" if it tried to invade Taiwan.