Whereas for over half a century a close relationship has
existed between the United States and Taiwan, and the relationship has been of
enormous economic, cultural, and strategic advantage to both countries, the
region and the world;
Whereas the United States has vital security and strategic
interests in the Taiwan Strait, with United States Armed Forces stationed in
countries within the Taiwan Strait region;
Whereas the security of the 23,000,000 people in Taiwan is
threatened by the deployment by the Government of the People's Republic of
China of over 1,400 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles targeted at
Taiwan;
Whereas the National People's Congress of the People's
Republic of China passed an anti-secession law on March 14, 2005, which was
subsequently condemned by the United States House of Representatives in House
Concurrent Resolution 98 (109th Congress), passed by the House of
Representatives on March 16, 2005;
Whereas House Concurrent Resolution 98 (109th Congress)
states that the anti-secession law seeks to create a legal framework for
possible use of force against Taiwan
and that it constitutes a
unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait
;
Whereas a 2009 Department of Defense report on the
military power of the Government of the People's Republic of China states that
[t]he PLA's modernization vis-a-vis Taiwan has continued over the past
year, including its build-up of short-range missiles opposite the
island
, and that [i]n the near-term, China's armed forces are
rapidly developing coercive capabilities for the purpose of deterring Taiwan's
pursuit of de jure independence
;
Whereas the report also states that [t]hese same
capabilities could in the future be used to pressure Taiwan toward a settlement
of the cross-Strait dispute on Beijing's terms while simultaneously attempting
to deter, delay, or deny any possible U.S. support for the island in case of
conflict
;
Whereas the Director of National Intelligence, Admiral
Dennis Blair, in the 2009 Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence
Community for the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, stated that
[p]reparations for a possible Taiwan conflict continue to drive the
modernization goals of the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese
defense-industrial complex
;
Whereas on January 21, 2010, the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) completed a report on the current condition of the air force of
the Government of Taiwan and concludes that, although Taiwan has nearly
400 combat aircraft in service, far fewer of these are operationally
capable
;
Whereas on August 16, 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense
issued a report titled Military and Security Developments involving the
People's Republic of China
, in which it noted that in spite of the
ongoing rapprochement, the PRC is continuing its military buildup and missile
deployment aimed at Taiwan, leading to a further deterioration of the military
balance across the Taiwan Strait;
Whereas section 2(b)(4) of the Taiwan Relations Act (22
U.S.C. 3301(b)(4)), which is the cornerstone of United States-Taiwan relations,
declares that it is the policy of the United States to consider any
effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means,
including by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace and security of the
Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States
;
and
Whereas section 2(b)(6) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 3301(b)(6))
declares it the policy of the United States to maintain the capacity of
the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that
would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people
on Taiwan
: Now, therefore, be it
That it is the sense of Congress
that—
(1)grave concerns exist concerning the
continued deployment by the Government of the People's Republic of China of
over 1,400 ballistic missiles directed toward Taiwan, which threaten security
and stability in the Taiwan Strait;
(2)the President
should seek a public and unequivocal renunciation from the leaders of the
People's Republic of China of any threat or use of force against Taiwan and the
region;
(3)the future of
Taiwan should be determined peacefully by the people of Taiwan and free from
coercion by the Government of the People's Republic of China; and
(4)the President
should take immediate steps to redress the deteriorating balance of airpower
noted by the 2010 DOD's annual report on China's military power, and move
forward expeditiously with the sale to Taiwan of new F–16 C/D aircraft and
upgrades of the existing F–16 A/B fleet.