Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE US House of Representatives on February 9 passed a bill that would push to exclude China from major international financial institutions if Beijing posed an immediate threat to Taiwan. The legislation, introduced by Rep.
Frank D. Lucas of Oklahoma, is known as the PROTECT Taiwan Act. It would make it US policy to seek the removal of Chinese representatives from key multilateral bodies if the president notifies Congress that China poses an immediate threat to Taiwan’s security.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the President must inform Congress if such a threat arises. If that notification is made, the bill calls for excluding China from organizations such as the Group of 20 major economies, the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. “The United States’ response to an invasion of Taiwan should be robust and include numerous sanctions and economic penalties. Exclusion from international bodies must be part of that response,” Lucas said on the House floor.
Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, also backed the measure. “The Protect Taiwan Act ensures that there will be significant financial and diplomatic consequences were China to invade Taiwan. Full stop,” Hill said.
The bill previously passed unanimously out of the House Financial Services Committee. It is cosponsored by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas. Supporters pointed to Taiwan’s central role in the global semiconductor industry. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the self-governing island under its control.
