US bill that includes ban on maps depicting Taiwan as part of China to become law

ROC Central News Agency

03/12/2022 12:44 PM

Washington, March 11 (CNA) U.S. President Joe Biden was expected to quickly sign into law a sweeping US$1.5 trillion spending bill that includes a ban on the use of any maps that "inaccurately" depict Taiwan as part of China by the U.S. State Department and its foreign operations.

The ban, contained in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022, that was part of the spending bill, stipulates that "none of the funds made available by this Act should be used to create, procure, or display any map that inaccurately depicts the territory and social and economic system of Taiwan and the islands or island groups administered by Taiwan authorities."

The bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, the omnibus spending bill, will fund federal government agencies for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022 to avoid an immediate government shutdown. The Senate approved the bill by a 68-31 vote on Thursday and sent it to the president's desk.

The appropriations act which included the ban was proposed in July 2021 by American lawmakers, including Republican House Representatives Tom Tiffany, Steve Chabot and Scott Perry, who are friendly to Taiwan.

The bill first passed the House in July 2021 by a vote of 217 to 212, but it did not move beyond the Senate and was instead packaged into the omnibus spending bill after some revisions were made to it.

The original bill had stipulated that "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to create, procure, or display any map that depicts Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (the township which is part of Kinmen County), Green Island, or Orchid Island as part of the territory of the People's Republic of China."

When he proposed the ban in July, Tiffany said in the House that since the 1970s, the U.S. has adopted a "One China Policy" to accommodate Beijing's claim that Taiwan is part of China.

However, Tiffany opposed it, acknowledging that "Beijing's bogus argument that Taiwan is part of Communist China" should be abandoned and the bill would "require honest maps that stop perpetuating the 'one China' lie."

In addition to the Taiwan-friendly portion of the bill, the 2,741-page Consolidated Appropriations Act will also provide US$13.6 billion in emergency aid to refugees from Ukraine, which is faced with a full-scale invasion by Russia, as well as in supplies of weapons to Eastern European allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader from the Democratic Party, said the financial aid will include US$1 billion in military financial assistance, such as the supplies of Javelin and Stinger missiles to the U.S. allies in the NATO to cement the organization's military strength.

In addition, Schumer added the financial assistance also aims to fend off cyberattacks from Russia.

(By Chiang Chin-yeh, Teng Pei-ju and Frances Huang)

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