- Taiwan hosts dozens of foreign lawmakers in Washington to push sanctions
THE United States is considering options for a sanctions package against China to deter it from invading Taiwan, with the European Union coming under diplomatic pressure from Taipei to do the same, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The sources said the deliberations in Washington and Taipei’s separate lobbying of EU envoys were both at an early stage – a response to fears of a Chinese invasion that have grown as military tensions escalate in the Taiwan Strait.
In both cases, the idea is to take sanctions beyond measures already taken in the West to restrict some trade and investment with China in sensitive technologies like computer chips and telecoms equipment.
The sources did not provide any details of what is being considered but the notion of sanctions on the world’s second-largest economy and one of the global supply chain’s biggest links raises questions of feasibility.
“The potential imposition of sanctions on China is a far more complex exercise than sanctions on Russia, given U.S. and allies’ extensive entanglement with the Chinese economy,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former senior U.S. Commerce Department official.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and last month fired missiles over the island and sailed warships across their unofficial sea frontier after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in what Beijing saw as a provocation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring democratically-governed Taiwan under Beijing’s control and has not ruled out the use of force. He is set to secure a third, five-year leadership term at a Communist Party congress next month. Taiwan’s government strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Responding to the news on the sanctions package, a foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing warned against underestimating China.
“I want to emphasize that any country or person should not underestimate the strong determination and firm will of the Chinese government and people in defending national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and realising the reunification of the motherland,” the spokesperson, Mao Ning, said on Wednesday.
Officials in Washington are considering options for a possible package of sanctions against China to deter Xi from attempting to invade Taiwan, said a U.S. official and an official from a country in close coordination with Washington.
U.S. talks over sanctions began after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, but took on fresh urgency after the Chinese reaction to Pelosi’s visit, the two sources said.
The United States, backed by NATO allies, took a similar approach to Russia in January with a threat of unspecified sanctions but this failed to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching his invasion of Ukraine.
The White House is focused on getting countries on the same page, including coordinating between Europe and Asia, and avoiding provoking Beijing, the non-U.S. official said.
Reuters was unable to learn details on what specific sanctions were under consideration, but some analysts suggested China’s military could be the focus.
“Big picture, initial sanctions conversations will likely revolve around curtailing China’s access to certain technologies required to sustain a military operation against Taiwan,” said Craig Singleton at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The White House declined to comment.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it had discussed China’s recent war games and the “great challenges” China poses to Taiwan and the region with the United States, Europe and other like-minded partners, but could not disclose details.
Taiwan’s Pitch to Europe
Taiwan had already broached sanctions with European officials after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but China’s recent military exercises have seen Taiwan’s position harden, six sources briefed on the Taiwan-Europe discussions told Reuters.
Top Taiwanese officials’ calls for sanctions preparations have intensified in recent weeks. A recent Chinese white paper, which withdrew a promise not to send troops or administrators to Taiwan if Beijing takes control of the island, has prompted a redoubling of their efforts with Europe.
Taiwan has not asked for anything specific, only for Europe to plan what actions it may take if China attacked, one source briefed on discussions said, and has asked Europe to warn China privately that it would face consequences.
EU officials have so far shied away from imposing tough sanctions on China over human rights issues, as the country plays a far bigger role for the bloc’s economy than Russia, said another person familiar with the matter.
European sanctions would require all 27 member countries to agree, which is often elusive; consensus was tough even in isolating Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, in part because its gas was critical for Germany.
All of Europe, excluding the Vatican, has formal diplomatic relations with Beijing but not Taipei, though Taiwanese and European officials have had extensive, private contacts since China’s military exercises began, the sources say.
Germany, the bloc’s economic engine, is “wary,” according to another official familiar with the discussion. “I don’t think the Russia-Ukraine has fundamentally changed the way they view their relationship with China.”
But there is growing concern in the German government over its economic dependence on China, with the economy minister pledging a new trade policy and “no more naivety” on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declined to comment.
Taiwan hosts foreign lawmakers in Washington to push China sanctions
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, hosted on Tuesday dozens of international lawmakers who back sanctions on China for aggression toward the island, a show of support for Taipei amid military pressure from Beijing.
The unannounced gathering of about 60 parliamentarians from Europe, Asia and Africa at Taiwan’s sweeping hilltop diplomatic mansion in Washington – called Twin Oaks – is the latest move in Taipei’s efforts to persuade fellow democracies to stand against China since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened concerns that Beijing could attempt to take the island by force.
In Beijing on Wednesday, China responded that striving for Taiwanese independence and seperatism was “a dead end”, however.
The group, consisting of members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) meeting this week in Washington, is expected to sign a pledge to push their governments to adopt “greater deterrence against military or other coercive” actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against Taiwan, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
“We will campaign to ensure our governments signal to the PRC that military aggression towards Taiwan will cost Beijing dearly,” the draft read.
“Economic and political measures, including meaningful sanctions, should be considered to deter military escalation, and to ensure trade and other exchanges with Taiwan can continue unimpeded.”
Their countries’ ties to Taiwan were not Beijing’s to determine, the draft added, and they would push to increase mutual visits by lawmakers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to bring democratically governed Taiwan under Beijing’s control and has not ruled out the use of force.
Xi is set to secure a third, five-year leadership term at a Communist Party congress next month.
Taiwan’s government strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Sources familiar with the issue have told Reuters that Washington is considering sanctions against China to deter it from invading Taiwan, with the European Union facing diplomatic pressure from Taipei to do the same.
“It is important to demonstrate to the bully that we have friends too,” Hsiao told the guests, from countries such as Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Ukraine, according to a list seen by Reuters.
“We are not seeking to provoke the bully, but neither will we bow to their pressure.”
She welcomed two Ukrainian representatives.
“We certainly hope that as the international community stands with Ukraine, that the international community will also stand with Taiwan…that together we can deter the further aggression coming from China.”
The IPAC pledge, expected to be signed on Wednesday, also calls for countries to secure supply chains from forced labor in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, and pursue sanctions on Chinese officials for abuses in Hong Kong, and on Chinese companies which support Russia’s military industry.
In Beijing, asked about the gathering and pledge, a foreign ministry spokesperson said China was resolutely opposed to official engagement with Taiwan by any countries with which it has diplomatic ties.
“The Democratic Progressive Party authorities colluding with external forces and striving for Taiwanese independence and seperatism is a dead end,” the spokesperson Mao Ning, said on Wednesday, referring to Taiwan’s ruling party.
‘Years Past Due’
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez, who acts as the United States’ IPAC co-chair with Republican Marco Rubio, told an IPAC briefing at the Capitol on Tuesday that a U.S. bill to support Taiwan would face some changes during a scheduled review this week, but that the “thrust” would remain the same.
An initial version of that bill threatens severe sanctions against China for any aggression against Taiwan, and would provide Taiwan with billions of dollars in foreign military financing in coming years.
Rubio said he believed the Biden administration was divided over how to approach prospective sanctions on China, and that although Beijing appeared to be taking steps to insulate itself from such actions, Washington needed be clear about the costs of hostility across the Taiwan Strait.
“It’s important for us to be prepared to proactively outline – whether it’s through legislation or through an executive announcement, exactly what the economic consequences will be if such an act of aggression goes forward,” Rubio told the briefing.
China held blockade-style military drills around Taiwan after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island last month, a reaction Taiwan officials have credited for spurring an uptick in foreign engagement that Beijing views as a violation of its sovereignty claims over the island.
Taiwan also has been urging Washington, its largest arms supplier, to hasten already approved weapons deliveries that have faced delays because of supply chain issues and heightened demand from the war in Ukraine.
Republican U.S. Representative Young Kim, who has written a bill to track U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, told Reuters in an interview that Hsiao had delivered a forceful message to Congress about ensuring those weapons systems reach Taiwan quickly.
“She’s said it in a hundred different ways that we appreciate the United States trying to get us the arms but don’t forget, it’s many years past due,” Kim said of Hsiao. “She’s very firm.”
