Commending Taiwan for its History of Democratic Elections, and Expressing Support of Taiwan's Democratic Institutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I am honored to be on the floor with my colleague, Senator Kaine from Virginia, and we are getting ready to pass in the U.S. Senate, unanimously, a resolution commending Taiwan for its history of democratic elections and expressing support of Taiwan's democratic institutions and its upcoming elections this Saturday.

This resolution we have has half the U.S. Senate as cosponsors, and we are going to pass it here in a few minutes. That means every Senator in the U.S. Senate is supporting this.

So why are we doing this? Well, it is very important. Taiwan has a Presidential election this Saturday. And, of course, the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping are doing everything they can to coerce the Taiwanese people to interfere in the election, and that is something that we are not supportive of at all.

This resolution goes through the history of Taiwan's democracy. It mentions that on Saturday, January 13, Taiwan will hold its 8th Presidential election and 10th legislative election since it began its transition to democracy.

It then moves to the sense of the U.S. Senate, where we are commending Taiwan for the example it has set for self-governance--not just in the Indo-Pacific region, but throughout the whole world where the Senate regards the democracy of Taiwan as a great strategic strength for the free world and an indispensable component of contemporary United States-Taiwan relations, and a sense of the Senate in this resolution that we all--all 100 of us--remain concerned about the Chinese Communist Party's aggressive interference that is happening right now.

We have had two very good articles recently in our American press. Here is one from the Wall Street Journal.

24, 2023] China Isn't Backing Off Taiwan (By the Editorial Board)

President Biden's recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco has been portrayed by both sides as a step forward in relations. But for all the good vibrations, Mr. Xi isn't giving up his ambition to retake Taiwan, not least by meddling in the island's January presidential election.

Mr. Xi warned Mr. Biden in California to stop arming Taiwan and not to interfere in the election in favor of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that China dislikes. Mr. Biden said he told Mr. Xi that he ``didn't expect any interference, any at all,'' in Taiwan's campaign.

But that's not how Beijing sees it. China deploys propaganda and military intimidation to nudge Taiwanese toward the Kuomintang, the party friendlier to Beijing. Beijing works hard to infiltrate Taiwan's civil society--from media to the business community.

One popular Chinese theme is to promote suspicion of the U.S. and its intentions. A recent report by the Information Operations Research Group in Taiwan found 84 examples over three years of Chinese government and media suggesting that Washington will abandon Taiwan, and that the elite of the U.S. and Taiwan are colluding to exploit Taiwan, among other propaganda.

The Communist Party is also ratcheting up its military harassment. Chinese military aircraft violate the island's air defense zone ``on an almost daily basis,'' as the U.S.- China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a November report to Congress.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) ran 1,737 such sorties in 2022, according to the report, up from a mere 20 sorties in 2019. Jets flew over the Taiwan Strait's dividing line in 2019 for the first time since 1999--and now those median incursions are routine.

Beijing is running increasingly sophisticated military exercises--joint operations to seize ``control of the sea, air, and information domains around Taiwan,'' as the report to Congress notes. These dress rehearsals are making the PLA more capable. Next year could be rough if the Taiwanese dare to elect the DPP's Lai Ching-te on Jan. 13.

The U.S. will hold its own election next year, and Mr. Xi might see an opening to strike while Americans are consumed with internal divisions. Mr. Xi has told his military to be ready to fight for Taiwan by 2027, but his economy is struggling and neighbors such as Japan are building up their defenses. He could perceive that his window of opportunity is closing.

A D-Day-style amphibious assault is not the only scenario the U.S. and Taiwan might face. Mr. Xi could provoke a crisis by seizing an outlying island. Taiwan this year accused Chinese-flagged vessels of ``deliberately cutting the two undersea internet cables'' to Taiwan's Matsu Island, as the report to Congress details.

Beijing could also try to choke off Taiwan in a blockade, either on its own or as a prelude to an assault. Would America send the U.S. Navy to escort ships and risk a shooting war? Or watch as the island's economy runs out of food and fuel?

The U.S. will wish it had deterred the crisis when faced with these grim choices. Far better to avoid this conflict than to fight it in any form. Call it an early new year's resolution for President Biden: Arm Taiwan at a faster clip, and show U.S. national will by building up America's Pacific defenses so Mr. Xi believes that taking Taiwan isn't worth the cost.

11, 2024] 4 Ways China Is Trying To Interfere in Taiwan's Presidential Election (By Lily Kuo, Pei-Lin Wu, Vic Chiang and Joseph Menn)

Taipei, Taiwan--Floating high-altitude balloons over the island, funding pro-Beijing social media influencers, and hosting local officials on lavish trips to China: These are among the tactics Beijing is accused of deploying to influence Taiwan's presidential election to be held on Saturday.

For years, Taiwan--which Beijing claims is an ``inalienable'' part of China--has been the target of Chinese influence campaigns aimed at convincing citizens that coming under Chinese Communist Party rule is their best option. Those efforts have come to the fore ahead of what is expected to be the closest presidential and legislative race for the island democracy in decades.

Taiwanese authorities are investigating 102 cases of foreign interference related to this year's election, according to the Supreme Prosecutors Office--the highest number since Taiwan enacted an anti-infiltration law in 2019. Many of them are related to China, which has an interest in unseating the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which it sees as promoting formal independence, and seeing a more Beijing-friendly president in office.

How these attempts fare matter beyond Taiwan. The next Taiwanese president's stance toward Beijing will be a factor in whether China initiates conflict in the Taiwan Strait, one that could draw in the United States and neighboring countries, disrupting global shipping lanes and supplies of critical technology.

What's more, influence tactics that prove useful in Taiwan could be replicated elsewhere. Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu warned on Tuesday: ``In 2024, there are more than 40 important democratic elections in the world. If China succeeds in Taiwan, China will use that experience to interfere in the elections of other countries.''

But measuring the impact or even the presence of Chinese influence efforts is becoming more difficult. Aware that overly blunt tactics could push voters away from China's preferred party--the Kuomintang (KMT)--and toward the DPP, which is leading in polls, China appears wary of overdoing it.

``There's a real potential for it to backfire,'' said Alexander Dukalskis, an associate professor at University College Dublin and the author of ``Making the World Safe for Dictatorship.'' ``People don't want to be bullied and intimidated into being told how to vote.''

The Biden administration has warned China against interfering, while Beijing has accused the DPP of ``hyping up'' the military threat from China for votes.

``The Chinese have been hammering away at them with so many different kinds of mechanisms, and it looks at least right now that their least favorite candidate is going to win,'' said a senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity. ``So that is an indication that the system is more resilient.''

Whether or not these measures affect the election, they can still further China's aims in Taiwan steadily and gradually. ``If I can influence 3 to 5 percent of the people, then I can influence the election result,'' said Chang Chun-Hao, a professor of political science at Tunghai University in Taiwan. ``And even if you don't affect the election results, you have still furthered the unification campaign.''

These are the four main ways Beijing has been accused of trying to interfere in Taiwan's presidential election this year: 1. SOWING INFORMATION CHAOS

Chinese misinformation in Taiwan used to be easier to catch, with news articles or social media posts clunkily written with vocabulary used mainly in China or in simplified Chinese text instead of the traditional script used in Taiwan. Now, that campaign has been localized, and Chinese propagandists have been encouraged to amplify authentic local disputes and divisions, said Tim Niven, head of research at Taiwan's Doublethink Lab. ``It's putting Taiwanese polarization on steroids,'' he said.

In the past year, Taiwan has been awash with rumors, including that Taiwanese officials, under orders from Washington, were collecting blood samples from citizens to engineer genetic weapons against China, or that the United States pushed Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC to set up a factory in Arizona so it could abandon Taiwan and its chip supply chains.

For months, the idea that the United States is not a reliable partner, a concept known as yimeilun, or ``America skepticism,'' has gained traction thanks to consistent amplification by Chinese media.

Beijing's influence campaign has also tapped networks of local Beijing-friendly content creators. Taiwanese authorities are investigating a digital media company that runs more than 20 Facebook pages with large followings and regularly criticizes the DPP.

The group's owner was offered content and financial support by a Chinese state media journalist, according to screenshots of the conversations shared with The Washington Post by a security officer involved in the case.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of an ongoing investigation, said Chinese propagandists often pay Taiwanese influencers to spread narratives that undermine Taiwan's democratic process. Sometimes the goal isn't necessarily to support a particular candidate, but rather to disrupt the election and ``make it chaotic,'' he said. 2. CO-OPTING LOCAL OFFICIALS

Over the past year, China has taken hundreds of local-level Taiwanese officials to Chinese cities. There, sway efforts have been as blatant as handing out vouchers for the streaming platform iQiyi and instructing the visitors to vote for pro-unification candidates, according to Taiwan's prosecutors office.

These exchanges, in which Taiwanese officials are hosted in China on heavily subsidized trips, have long been seen as an avenue for grass-roots influence operations, with the expectation that they will return with a pro-China message. Taiwanese authorities are investigating 40 people in relation to these visits and potential election interference.

In other cases, the message was more subtle. Chinese officials told their Taiwanese guests to remember that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are ``one family,'' according to officials who went on these exchanges. In some, the Chinese hosts were careful not to say anything about the election for risk of jeopardizing these visits.

``They would say that the mainland very much hopes the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can be united and that everyone can sit down and talk,'' said one village chief from the Taipei area who went on two trips to China last year. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is among those being investigated.

``They all want to push unification, or to infiltrate your thinking. It's just some use more subtle methods and others use more crude methods,'' he said. 3. WIELDING ECONOMIC STICKS AND CARROTS

Starting Jan. 1, China canceled preferential tariffs on 12 chemical compounds from Taiwan. On Tuesday, China's Commerce Ministry said it was studying the possibility of canceling other tariff concessions for agriculture, fish, machinery, auto parts and textiles, measures that Chinese officials said would continue if the DPP maintains its ``pro-independence position.''

At the same time, Beijing is dangling carrots to others that show some fealty to China. In June, Chinese authorities resumed previously banned imports of sugar apples from some companies after the mayor of Taitung, where the fruit is grown, visited China along with the KMT's vice chairman.

In December, China said it would resume some imports of grouper after banning it in June. But only imports from six individuals and one company, whose chairman visited China the month before, will be allowed.

``The goal is telling those voters who have economic ties with China that they better vote for the candidate [Beijing] prefers,'' said Chiou Yi-Hung, an associate professor of international relations at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. 4. RAMPING UP `GRAY ZONE' MILITARY INTIMIDATION

China's military, the People's Liberation Army, has increased military incursions near Taiwan over the past year to remind citizens of Beijing's promise to ``reunite'' with Taiwan by force if necessary.

Ahead of the election, China appears to be using new forms of ``gray zone'' tactics, aggressive measures that stop short of open conflict and are meant to intimidate. Since December, China has sent at least 31 high-altitude balloons--similar to the one discovered and shot down over the United States last year--into Taiwan's airspace. Taiwan's Defense Ministry described the balloons as ``cognitive warfare'' intended to demoralize Taiwan's 23 million people.

On Tuesday, days before polls were to open, China launched a satellite that unexpectedly crossed over southern Taiwan before entering space, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. The launch prompted a rare nationwide emergency alert, whose English version mistakenly described the object in question as ``a missile flyover,'' alarming residents.

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we are almost certainly facing a volatile and maybe even dangerous period in the Taiwan Strait because of the Chinese Communist Party. The election is January 13. The inauguration won't take place until May. So what we need to do as a country is to provide steady, unwavering resolve and support of Taiwan's democracy, and, of course, we need to continue to critically enhance cross-strait deterrence.

I will end with one final thing before my colleague from Virginia, I know, wants to say a few words on this important resolution. But this is also a vulnerability for the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping himself. Think about it. This undermines--this election--all of these elections in Taiwan--undermine the central premise of the Chinese Communist Party's rule that one dictator knows what is best for 1.4 billion people, in perpetuity, for as long as he is alive.

What I guarantee you the dictators in Beijing are worried about is that people in China are going to look across the Taiwan Strait and go: Wait a minute. How come we can't do that? Chinese democracy, how come we can't do that?

What we are doing right now is showing commitment and resolve for Taiwanese democracy.

I am proud to say, many, many years ago, on the eve of Taiwan's first election, the Chinese Communist Party moved its military up. They shot missiles over Taiwan. This is now referred to as the ``Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.'' It was a huge crisis in 1995, 1996. And President Clinton, to his credit, sent two carrier strike groups and a Marine amphibious ready group to show American commitment and resolve.

I was a young infantry officer on one of those Navy ships during that time in the Taiwan Strait, showing American commitment and resolve, and that is what we are doing with this resolution on now their eighth Presidential election in Taiwan, and I am honored to be here with Senator Kaine to pass this unanimous Senate resolution in support of Taiwan democracy.

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Virginia. And right here, I have the resolution. As I mentioned, half the U.S. Senate--Democrats and Republicans--are cosponsors of this important resolution commending Taiwan for its history of democratic elections, expressing concern about the Chinese Communist Party's interference in this upcoming election, and expressing our support for Taiwan's democratic institutions.

Res. 521, submitted earlier today.
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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, for those watching all over the world, this Senate resolution, with 50 Democratic and Republican Senate cosponsors, has now passed the U.S. Senate as an official resolution commending the people of Taiwan for their democratic elections and expressing our support for the upcoming election this Saturday.

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