Sen. Cruz: “For Too Long the United States Government Has Needlessly and Unilaterally Restricted Our Interactions” With Taiwan

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today released the following statement after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced his amendment requiring the Secretary of State to rescind prohibitions that limit our Taiwanese allies from displaying symbols of their sovereignty, such as the Taiwanese flag or military insignia, when they conduct business with the United States. This amendment incorporates language from Sen. Cruz's Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty (Taiwan SOS) Act and his Reassurance for Official Contacts (Taiwan ROC) Act.

Following the committee's vote, Sen. Cruz said:

"The United States unambiguously stands with Taiwan and with the legitimate aspirations of the Taiwanese people for freedom and democracy. For too long, however, the United States government has needlessly and unilaterally restricted our interactions in various ways, risking the false impression that our support for our Taiwanese allies is anything but ironclad. Most recently, the State Department issued new regulations that reversed previous progress that had been made allowing Taiwanese officials to display symbols of their sovereignty in official functions. Today's vote signals that there is a bipartisan consensus against such restrictions, and they should and will be repealed."

Sen. Cruz has fought throughout his career in the Senate to strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. He has secured and supported a variety of provisions in the FY2020, FY2019, and FY2018 NDAAs, which reaffirm and advance the United States' support for Taiwan, called for the United States to transfer F-16s and conduct regular arms sales to Taiwan, and met with Taiwan President Tsai.

Other amendments and language advancing Sen. Cruz's policy initiatives that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced today include:

• Language requiring sanctions against Chinese officials involved in the genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang through systematic rape or forced abortions, sterilizations, or contraceptive implantation. The language incorporates Sen. Cruz's Sanctioning and Highlighting Authoritarian Medicine and Eugenics (SHAME) Act.
• An amendment requiring a report that identifies the individuals who control Chinese state-owned entities that benefit from the intellectual property theft of American companies. This amendment incorporates language from Sen. Cruz's Sanction Entities in China for Undermining Rules, Exploiting Intellectual Property (SECURE IP) Act.
• An amendment requiring a report describing the extent to which the U.S. originally entering and potentially reentering the nuclear deal with Iran would facilitate malign cooperation between China and Iran. This amendment is part of a years-long effort by Sen. Cruz to highlight the catastrophic dangers of the deal.
• An amendment that states, unambiguously, that Congress has determined that the Chinese Communist Party and the government of China are engaged in an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, and that their tactics include imprisonment, torture, rape, and coercive birth prevention policies.
• An amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that includes a requirement for a report on how China limits freedom of expression in the private sector, including in film. The language developed as a result of engagement and an amendment process with Sen. Cruz on the issue of Hollywood self-censorship. Sen. Cruz is the author of the Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity, Protecting Talkies (SCRIPT) Act, which bans U.S. government funding or assistance to Hollywood studios that self-censor at the behest of the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party.
• An amendment that names 20 companies and ships that may be involved in constructing Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline and requires a determination within 15 days whether they are subject to sanctions mandated by Sen. Cruz's Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act (PEESA) as amended by his Protecting Europe's Energy Security Clarification Act (PEESCA). This amendment was passed unanimously as an unmistakable signal of bipartisan commitment to blocking Nord Stream 2.

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