Congress Passes Ukraine Bill With Support for Taiwan—China’s Response

China has reprimanded the U.S. over a $95 billion aid package containing military assistance for Taiwan in addition to Ukraine and Israel.

The Chinese embassy in the U.S. told Newsweek the bill, passed Tuesday by the Senate in a 79-18 vote, violates standing agreements between the two countries and “sends a wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

China considers Taiwan to be a rogue province and maintains unification is inevitable, though the Chinese Communist Party has never had a presence there. Beijing has ratcheted up military, economic, and diplomatic pressure since Taiwan voted the China-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party into power in 2016, prompting the self-ruled island to invest more heavily in its defense.

Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over the bill, saying “the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese.”

“Some people in the U.S. should immediately correct their wrong words and deeds on the Taiwan issue and return to the right path of abiding by the One-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués,” he added.

The U.S. has for decades observed a “one China principle” in which it acknowledges—but does not necessarily agree with—Beijing’s claim that it represents Taiwan as well as China.

The three communiqués Liu alluded to were statements made by the U.S. and China amid the normalization of relations in the 1970s and early 80s. In the third communiqué, the U.S. said it intended to eventually reduce arms sales to Taiwan, without specifying a timeline. Washington is committed to provide the self-ruled island with defensive weapons under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

“Taiwan deeply appreciates the U.S. Congress for the passage of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, which will provide critical support for Taiwan’s defense capabilities,” Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the U.S. wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Taiwan’s defense ministry said Sunday approximately $1.9 billion of the $8 billion in funding earmarked for Taiwan would be put toward military equipment and training. Another $2 billion is meant for “foreign military financing” for Taiwan and several other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Late on Tuesday night, President Joe Biden indicated that he would be signing the bill into law when it reaches his desk on Wednesday.

“The needs is urgent: for Ukraine, facing unrelenting bombardment from Russia; for Israel, which just faced unprecedented attacks from Iran; for refugees and those impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world, including in Gaza, Sudan, and Haiti; and for partners seeking security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said in a White House statement.

The bill will also ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance doesn’t divest from it.

The vote came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to China in his second trip to the country in less than a year.

The diplomat is expected to press Beijing not to act provocatively in the lead up to the May 20 inauguration of Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te. He will also push China to crack down on dual use exports that could support the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken’s visit comes as the world’s largest and second-largest economies seek to manage disagreements across many areas without returning to the frosty relations seen last year.