ICYMI: Ranking Member Shaheen Leads Congressional Push for Taiwan Support Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led the charge from Congress to push President Trump to not sell out American national security during his summit with Chinese President Xi in Beijing later this week.

Ranking Member Shaheen and Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) authored a letter to President Trump along with six other bipartisan Senate colleagues urging him to formally notify to Congress $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan ahead of his visit to Beijing.

• "In a letter sent on Friday, the lawmakers urged the president to formally notify Congress of the arms package and argued that Taipei's recent approval of a new military spending plan removed any remaining rationale for delay. Senior lawmakers offered early approval to the package in January, but it has stalled in the State Department for months, raising broader questions about the administration's approach to Taiwan and its effort to recalibrate relations with Beijing." (New York Times)

• A bipartisan group of eight lawmakers pressed the White House to move forward in a letter made public today. "The conventional and asymmetric capabilities we provide - drones, anti-ship missiles, radar systems and mines - make a Chinese invasion prohibitively costly and thereby help preserve the peaceful status quo," the senators, led by Senate Foreign Relations ranking member JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.), wrote in the letter sent Friday. (POLITICO)

• "The lawmakers' push, which includes a plea for Trump to make clear that "America's support for Taiwan is inviolable," highlighted a key disagreement between the US and China. [...] A senior Taiwanese official expressed concern last month that Taiwan would be put "on the menu" of the talks between Trump and Xi." (Bloomberg)

Ranking Member Shaheen and John Curtis (R-UT) published an op-ed in The Economist warning that rising aggression from the People's Republic of China toward Taiwan and across the Indo-Pacific requires consistent and bipartisan American leadership.

• "China is operating under the dangerous assumption that the East is rising and the West is declining. This perceived advantage, paired with global attention focused on the Middle East and Eastern Europe, could embolden Mr Xi to test America's limits. If its commitments were to appear uncertain, China's leader would be more likely to probe for openings," wrote Senators Shaheen and Curtis.

• "A Chinese move against Taiwan could cost the world economy more than $10trn, immediately shrinking American GDP by 7%, an initial hit almost as hard as that of the Depression, according to Bloomberg Economics. For families and workers all over the world, the consequences would be inescapable, from skyrocketing prices on essentials to shuttered production lines," continued Senators Shaheen and Curtis.

• "Those mind-bogglingly high stakes are why consistency matters. Our hope is that Mr Trump affirms America's long-standing and bipartisan support for Taiwan and other regional allies in his summit with Mr Xi. And that expression of support should be matched by action. America should strengthen its existing force posture in the region and expedite sales of American-made military equipment to Taiwan," concluded Senators Shaheen and Curtis.

Finally, Senators Shaheen and Tillis participated in an event at the Brookings Institution entitled "US-China competition: Policy priorities from Capitol Hill" where Senator Shaheen underscored the stakes of this week's Trump-Xi summit.

• "Just to be clear, the $14 billion [in arms sales to Taiwan] was approved back in January. We have still not been noticed as Congress that that support is going. Most of that is for American arms, so we get a benefit economically. [...] What we are hearing from our sources is the President does not want to notice the arms sale before he goes to China. Well, what better time to notice it then when he is going to China? Because that sends a very strong message that we are going to be there and China should keep its mitts off of Taiwan."

• "My current issue that has my hair on fire is that we have lifted the oil sanctions on Russia, so they are able now to provide oil to China, which is where China gets most of their oil. At the same time, they are providing targeting information to the Iranians so they can kill Americans. How does that policy make sense at all?"

• "President Xi is watching to see what the outcome of the war in Ukraine is. If we walk away from Ukraine, if we don't provide the support we promised, if the NATO alliance breaks up, if the transatlantic alliance breaks up, that is doing exactly what Xi wants and he is watching to see what the United States does. All we have done is send mixed messages since President Trump got elected."

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