SINGAPORE — On Tuesday, September 13, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, hosted various lawmakers from around the globe who support sanctions against China as Beijing escalates its bellicosity towards the island.
The undisclosed assembly of approximately 60 parliamentarians from Europe, Asia, and Africa at Twin Oaks, Taiwan’s diplomatic mansion in Washington, D.C., was one of Taipei’s recent measures to convince other nations to adopt a resolute stance against China amid the latter’s pugilistic displays in recent weeks.
The lawmakers invited to Twin Oaks reportedly came from countries such as Britain, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Lithuania, Ukraine, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, and had attended the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) gathering in Washington this week.
The officials are slated to sign a pledge to persuade their governments to implement “greater deterrence against military or other coercive” actions by China against Taiwan, based on a draft seen by Reuters.
The countries are also urged to secure supply chains from forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, and to impose sanctions on Chinese officials for abuses in Hong Kong, as well as on Chinese companies that back Russia’s military industry.
“We will campaign to ensure our governments signal to the PRC that military aggression towards Taiwan will cost Beijing dearly,” the draft declared. “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.”
Moreover, the pledge indicated that the countries’ relations with Taiwan were not Beijing’s to regulate, and that they would campaign for more mutual visits by lawmakers.
Washington is considering sanctions against China to deter it from invading Taiwan, according to sources well acquainted with Tuesday’s discussions.
Yet these sources failed to offer any details of what type of sanctions are being considered. This is because such proposed sanctions on China, the world’s second-largest economy and a major link in the global supply chain, provoke uncertainties as to their workability.
“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,” admitted Nazak Nikakhtar, a former senior U.S. Commerce Department official.
Addressing the gathering on Tuesday, Hsiao declared, “We are not seeking to provoke the bully, but neither will we bow to their pressure.”
Hsiao also welcomed two Ukrainian representatives at the meeting. “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.”
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who serves as the United States’ IPAC co-chairman along with Republican Marco Rubio (Fla.), revealed in an IPAC briefing at the Capitol on Tuesday that a U.S. bill to back Taiwan would undergo some amendments during a planned review this week, but that the “thrust” would remain intact.
An initial draft of that bill suggests heavy sanctions against China for any aggression against Taiwan, and plans to offer Taiwan billions of dollars in foreign military financing.
Rubio opined that he thought the Biden administration was split in terms of the methods of possible sanctions on China. Additionally, while Beijing seems to be taking measures to shield itself from such sanctions, Washington had to be aware of the actual repercussions of animosity 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 said. Taiwan continues to push Washington to accelerate previously approved weapons deliveries that have faced delays due to supply-chain disruptions.
In a similar manner, Taiwan previously brought up the topic of sanctions against China with European officials.
A recent Chinese white paper, which pulled back on a pledge not to dispatch troops or administrators to Taiwan if Beijing seizes control of the island, has catalyzed Taiwanese pressure on European officials to implement punitive measures on China.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, Taiwan did not recommend any specific sanctions, but just asked Europe to decide on a course to take if China attacked.
European Union (EU) officials have refrained from imposing severe sanctions on China over human rights issues thus far, as the EU bloc is more economically intertwined with China than with Russia, said another person acquainted with the matter.
To make things even more complicated, European sanctions would necessitate the agreement of all 27 EU member countries, a situation that would be challenging. During the Russia-Ukraine crisis, for instance, a European consensus on isolating Russia was difficult due to the reliance of some countries — like Germany — on Russian gas.
On the China-Taiwan issue, Germany remains “wary” despite rising domestic concerns about German reliance on China, according to an official familiar with the Taiwan-European discussion. “I don’t think Russia-Ukraine has fundamentally changed the way they view their relationship with China.”
All of Europe, besides the Vatican, has formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, but not Taipei. Having said that, sources reveal that Taiwanese and European officials have had various low-profile contacts after the recent commencement of China’s military exercises.
Following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, Chinese military actions around Taiwan have increased significantly, as Beijing perceived Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a violation of its own sovereignty claims over the island.
China deems Taiwan to be a breakaway province that has to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taiwan’s current government firmly dismisses China’s sovereignty claims.
