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US Congress set to
debate bill on TRA implementation
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in Washington
Representative Robert Andrews has introduced a new bill to establish a special
commission to advise the US Congress on how to implement the Taiwan Relations
Act (TRA).
Andrews, a Democrat, lists the proposed commission¡¦s number one job as assessing
arms sales and reporting whether sufficient ¡§defense articles¡¨ had been made
available to Taiwan by the US. It would also assess whether Taiwan¡¦s air and air
defense forces retain the ability to effectively defend Taiwan against threats
posed by China.
The idea is to appoint a five-member commission with a permanent staff and an
annual budget of US$500,000.
A mini-survey by the Taipei Times showed that while the bill had widespread
bipartisan support in the House, there could be difficulty providing financing
during this fiscally tight election year.
The commissioners would be appointed by the president and by leaders of the
House and Senate, and would write an annual report.
Other areas that commissioners would review include current and potential
threats to the security, social or economic system of Taiwan and the extent to
which the US retains the capability to resist any resource to force; measures
taken by the US government toward the preservation and enhancement of human
rights in Taiwan and policy options for the US to advance normalization of
relations with Taiwan.
According to the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), the concept of
a Congressional Taiwan commission sprang from testimony given last year by
Project 2049 Institute president Randall Schriver. He told the House Foreign
Affairs Committee there had been a tendency among US administrations to relegate
relations with Taiwan to a sub-issue in US-China bilateral ties.
¡§Objective analysis is important because it remains the legal obligation of this
administration to make weapons for self-defense available to our democratic
friend Taiwan,¡¨ he said.
FAPA president Mark Kao (°ªÀsºa) said that although the TRA had been in force for
33 years, Congress had yet to undertake a comprehensive review of its
implementation.
¡§There is increasing concern about whether the US government is faithfully
executing its obligations under the TRA, which after all is the law of the
land,¡¨ he said.
The establishment of an objective advisory commission, whose sole purpose would
be to examine the implementation of the TRA, would ¡§contribute greatly to
addressing this gap,¡¨ Kao said.
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