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Igor Patrick

The top Democrat on the US Senate’s foreign policy panel urged Donald Trump on Monday not to signal any retreat from Taiwan when he hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.
Speaking at the Concordia Summit in New York, Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she hoped the president “will not say anything that indicates a lack of support for Taiwan” during his talks with the Chinese leader.
Shaheen is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which reviews US arms sales abroad, including those to Taiwan.
“In Congress, there is very strong bipartisan support for our historic position with respect to Taiwan,” she said.
The island, she added, “is a huge producer of semiconductors that are very critical to the United States”.


Beijing views Taiwan as part of China to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington opposes any attempt to change the status quo by force and is committed to supplying the island with defensive weapons.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said China’s position about Taiwan “has been consistent and clear”.
Shaheen co-led Senate delegation to Taipei in March
In March, Shaheen co-led a bipartisan Senate delegation to Taipei with Republican Senator John Curtis, meeting Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te and pressing the island’s legislature to approve a special defence budget.
Beijing’s foreign ministry denounced the trip and urged Washington to stop “sending any wrong signals” to separatist forces.
Days before that visit, she told the press she was concerned about Trump’s commitment to “reinforcing the United States’ support for Taiwan and not undermining their sovereignty”.
Her committee has since advanced bills to codify Washington’s “Six Assurances” to Taipei and to prepare sanctions in case of a Chinese attack.
Meanwhile, a US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan is still awaiting final approval. The South China Morning Post reported on Saturday that Washington was considering holding back announcements of major arms sales to the island until after the Apec summit in Shenzhen in November.
Chinese officials had asked the US not to announce new sales before Xi’s trip, a source told the SCMP.
Beijing confirmed on Monday that Xi will pay a state visit to the US from Wednesday to Friday, his first to Washington since 2015. He and Trump are due to hold talks at the White House on Thursday, four months after the US president travelled to Beijing.
Shaheen hoped the leaders would also discuss “how to proceed on AI and the threat from AI that Americans are very much feeling”.
She pointed to a sanctions law Trump signed on Friday, describing it as “a very strong message to Russia and to China and the users of Russian oil and gas”.

The law, she said, was “an important message for the president to be able to go in to any meeting with President Xi, to let him know that Congress is paying attention to the support that China is giving to Russia and their help in funding the war in Ukraine”.
Named after Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who championed it until his death in July, the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act was co-written with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. The Senate passed it 86-11 in August and the House approved it 262-159 last week.
New law will see tariffs on buyers of Russian oil
The law directs tariffs of up to 500 per cent on Russian imports. It also lets the president impose duties of up to 100 per cent on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, a list led by China and India.
Putin, senior Russian officials and banks are targeted too, along with the “shadow fleet” of tankers that carry Russian oil around Western restrictions.
The law extends existing sanctions on Iran for five years and allows Trump to waive the measures if he certifies to Congress that doing so is in the national interest.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said last week that Beijing opposed “long-arm jurisdiction” without a basis in international law or UN Security Council authorisation. China’s trade with other countries was based on equality and mutual benefit, he added.
Moscow called the measure “unfriendly” and warned it could affect talks to end the war in Ukraine. India said it would keep securing energy for its 1.4 billion people through diversified sourcing.
Shaheen also accused the administration of “playing footsie with China and Russia” during the US war with Iran, arguing that both countries were helping Tehran target American bases, troops and allies in the Middle East. She called it “totally unacceptable and unconscionable”.
Several media outlets reported in March that Russia was sharing intelligence on US military positions with Iran. Citing leaked Iranian military documents, the Financial Times also later reported that Tehran had covertly acquired a Chinese-built satellite to watch US bases. Beijing denied the accusations.
Additional reporting by Han Li


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Top US Senate Democrat Jeanne Shaheen warns Trump not to waver on Taiwan ahead of Xi meet

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen says she hopes US President Donald Trump “will not say anything that indicates a lack of support for Taiwan” during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: Scanpix via AP

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Jeanne Shaheen also said new law allowing tariffs on buyers of Russian oil ‘sends Beijing a message’ before this week’s summit in Washington


Jeanne Shaheen also said new law allowing tariffs on buyers of Russian oil ‘sends Beijing a message’ before this week’s summit in Washington.


Top US Senate Democrat Jeanne Shaheen warns Trump not to waver on Taiwan ahead of Xi meet

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Jeanne Shaheen also said new law allowing tariffs on buyers of Russian oil ‘sends Beijing a message’ before this week’s summit in Washington

Jeanne Shaheen also said new law allowing tariffs on buyers of Russian oil ‘sends Beijing a message’ before this week’s summit in Washington