EXCLUSIVE: GOP Reps Propose Banning US Gov From Calling Taiwan Name Favored By Beijing

Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would prohibit federal agencies from referring to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei,” according to a copy of the resolution shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Representatives Byron Donalds of Florida, Keith Self of Texas, Barry Moore of Alabama and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin as well as Del. James Moylan of Guam introduced the “Taiwan Identification Terminology and Label Enhancement Act” (TITLE Act), which “decries the United States Government’s use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ nomenclature.” If adopted, the bill will compel federal agencies to begin using “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei” no later than 14 days after its enactment. (RELATED: China Masses Troops On Coast, Proposes Taiwan Economic Integration Plan)

“The Chinese Communist Party in the People’s Republic of China seeks to control Taiwan through means of persuasion and coercion, and potentially compellance,” the TITLE Act states. “It is the sense of Congress that Congress believes the United States must stand firm in the commitments it made in the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.), which states that the United States must ‘maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.'”

Beijing rejects Taiwan’s sovereignty, and the People’s Liberation Army often threatens “reunification-by-force,” claiming that Taiwan is ruled by “separatists,” Chinese state-run media outlet Global Times has reported. The People’s Republic of China was established by the CCP in the final days of China’s Civil War, which ended when the Nationalists fled from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949.

“The People’s Republic of China refers to Taiwan as a ‘region’ and to the President of Taiwan as ‘the leader of the Taiwan region,’ illustrating the People’s Republic of China’s mistaken view that Taiwan is a region of China,” the TITLE Act states.

“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy, told the DCNF. “China’s position on the Taiwan question is consistent and clear. The greatest threat to cross-Strait peace is ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and foreign connivance and support for their activities. We strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but have the right to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and security.”

The GOP lawmakers’ bill states that “many Taiwanese individuals see the ‘Chinese Taipei’ nomenclature as a symbol of oppression from the People’s Republic of China.”

The bill also notes that the U.S. government “has never officially recognized” Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan and states that its intent is to “ultimately exert the belief that Taiwan’s status must be resolved peacefully and include the wishes of the people of Taiwan.”

The TITLE Act will compel all federal agencies identified by 5 U.S. Code § 551 to adopt the new naming convention in all cases save for instances in which “historical context” is required to explain Beijing’s “attempt to control Taiwan through persuasion and coercion” or in the formal title of a federal document.

The Taiwan Economic And Cultural Representative Office did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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