US senators seek to admit Taiwan as development bank member
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON • Senior Democratic and Republican senators in the United States have introduced legislation seeking Washington's backing for Taiwan's admission to the Inter-American Development Bank as a non-borrowing member.
The Bill is part of an effort in Congress and elsewhere in Washington to boost the international profile of Taiwan, as tensions escalate between the democratically ruled island and China, which claims it as its sovereign territory.
The measure would require the State Department to provide Congress with a strategy to secure diplomatic support for Taiwan's membership, which would be a promotion from its current observer status.
The Senate has already passed legislation directing the State Department to develop a strategy to assist Taiwan in obtaining observer status at the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organisation's decision-making body.
"We are committed to continue working to ensure the United States does everything in its power to champion Taiwan's international engagement and demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the people of Taiwan," said Senator Robert Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement.
China in recent weeks has staged repeated air missions over the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating the island and the mainland.
Mr Menendez introduced the Bill with Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Ed Markey and Republican Senators Jim Risch, Jim Inhofe and Marco Rubio.
The lawmakers said Taiwan has demonstrated that it can play an important role in the western hemisphere and that it contributes to the growth of economies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
REUTERS
