The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that included a motion to ban the use of public funds to buy, make or display any map of China that shows Taiwan as part of its territory.
The bill—for State Department and related foreign service funding—was adopted on Capitol Hill by a vote of 217 to 212. It is a binding legislation that now provides both the budget and how it is to be used.
Adopted with the legislation was amendment 35, introduced by Republican lawmakers Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Steve Chabot (OH-01), Scott Perry (PA-10), Kat Cammack (FL-03) and Mike Gallagher (WI-08).
The motion "[p]rohibits the expenditure of funds to create, procure or display any map that depicts Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China," according to the text.
Speaking on the House floor on Wednesday, the amendment's main sponsor, Tiffany, said: "This is a common sense measure. As we all know, Taiwan has never been part of Communist China. The Taiwanese people elect their own leaders, raise their own armed forces, conduct their own foreign policy and maintain their own international trade agreements.
"By every measure, Taiwan is a sovereign, democratic and independent country. Any claims to the contrary are simply false," said the Wisconsin representative.
He added: "Since the 1970s, America's so-called 'one China' policy has acknowledged Beijing's bogus argument that Taiwan is part of Communist China. This is a dishonest policy, and that is one that America should abandon."
"While we cannot end this policy with my amendment today, we can at least require honest maps that stop perpetuating the 'one China' lie," Tiffany remarked. "Communist China is Communist China," he said, "and Taiwan is Taiwan."
Reached by Newsweek on Thursday Taipei time, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou thanked the lawmakers for their "continued show of support through concrete actions."
Taiwan will follow the bill's progress, maintain its close ties with the U.S. executive and legislative branches and continue to deepen positive U.S.-Taiwan relations, Ou said.
The 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill funds the U.S. diplomatic service including the State Department and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
According to the House Committee on Appropriations, the legislation provides $62.24 billion in foreign service funding, an increase of $6.74 billion—or 12 percent—from the current budget.
Included are provisions for foreign aid, public health infrastructure and U.S. efforts to tackle climate change. The bill helps to "support allies and partners of the United States, particularly to counter growing Chinese influence," the committee said.
Correction 7/30/21, 3:45 a.m. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the bill as non-binding.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
