Amid China's growing military aggression towards Taiwan, three US senators have proposed a bill that would allow for the imposition of financial sanctions against China in the event of an attack or invasion of the island.
This bill comes at a time when the experts fear that China too might flex muscles over Taiwan and the South China Sea, after taking cues from Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
The bill will give US lawmakers to sever all financial transactions between the US and China if China engages in armed aggression against Taiwan.
Senators Rick Scott, and two other US lawmakers introduced the Deterring Communist Chinese Aggression Against Taiwan Through Financial Sanctions Act, which would seek to impose financial sanctions on Beijing should it invade, blockade, or enact regime change in Taiwan through the use of force.
Senator Rick Scott said, "Taiwan is one of America's most important partners in the Asia-Pacific, and its peace and stability are in our political, security, and economic interests. We have watched Communist China's increasingly frequent actions to harass and intimidate the Taiwanese people, through regular military encroachments and cyberattacks. We must be clear that these intimidation tactics will not be ignored."
"As Beijing quietly watches Putin's invasion of and assault on Ukraine, America must stand strongly behind our partners in democracy and leave no ambiguity as to our resolve to condemn and punish tyrants who attack our partners. Passing this bill will make clear to General Secretary Xi that if he mimics Putin's invasion then he will be met with economic isolation and severe financial sanctions," he added.
Senator Kevin Cramer said their bill threatens crippling financial sanctions as a deterrence to China trying to follow in Putin's footsteps
Another US Senator John Kennedy said, "Now more than ever, we must make it clear to the Chinese Communist Party that armed aggression towards Taiwan would deal a devastating blow to China's economy. As we know, waiting too long to sanction bad actors can create major national security risks at home. We can't let China seize the moment to attack one of America's key partners in the Pacific."
China continues to regard Taiwan as a breakaway province despite seven decades of separate governance.
Beijing has not ruled out military force to take Taiwan and has kept the pressure on the democratic island with frequent warplane flights into Taiwan's air defence identification zone.
( With inputs from ANI )
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