Taiwan Peace through Strength Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1997 To promote peace through strength in Taiwan, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To promote peace through strength in Taiwan, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Peace through 4 Strength Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. ANTICIPATORY POLICY PLANNING AND ANNUAL RE- 6 VIEW OF UNITED STATES WAR PLANS TO DE- 7 FEND TAIWAN. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 10 the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a classified review 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1997 IS of United States war plans to defend Taiwan and share 1 the results of the review with the Chairman and Ranking 2 Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Sen- 3 ate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House 4 of Representatives. 5 (b) ELEMENTS.—The review conducted under sub- 6 section (a) shall include the following elements: 7 (1) An assessment of Taiwan’s current and 8 near-term capabilities and United States force readi- 9 ness and the adequacy of United States conflict con- 10 tingency plans. 11 (2) A comprehensive assessment of risks to the 12 United States and United States interests, including 13 readiness shortfalls that pose strategic risk. 14 (3) A review of indicators of the near-term like- 15 lihood of the use of force by the People’s Liberation 16 Army against Taiwan. 17 (4) The compilation of a pre-approved list of 18 military capabilities, including both asymmetric and 19 traditional capabilities selected to suit the oper- 20 ational environment and to allow Taiwan to respond 21 effectively to a variety of contingencies across all 22 phases of conflict involving the People’s Liberation 23 Army, that the Secretary of Defense has pre-cleared 24 for Taiwan to acquire, and that would reduce the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1997 IS threat of conflict, thwart an invasion, and mitigate 1 other risks to the United States and Taiwan. 2 SEC. 3. FAST-TRACKING SALES TO TAIWAN UNDER FOR- 3 EIGN MILITARY SALES PROGRAM. 4 (a) PRECLEARANCE OF CERTAIN FOREIGN MILITARY 5 SALES ITEMS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 8 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordi- 9 nation with the Secretary of Defense and in conjunc- 10 tion with relevant coordinating entities, such as the 11 National Disclosure Policy Committee and the Arms 12 Transfer and Technology Release Senior Steering 13 Group, shall— 14 (A) compile and submit to the relevant 15 congressional committees a list of available and 16 emerging military platforms, technologies, and 17 equipment; and 18 (B) upon listing such platforms, tech- 19 nologies, and equipment, pre-clear and 20 prioritize for sale and release to Taiwan 21 through the Foreign Military Sales program 22 such platforms, technologies, and equipment. 23 (2) SELECTION OF ITEMS.—The items pre- 24 cleared for sale pursuant to paragraph (1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1997 IS (A) shall represent a full-range of asym- 1 metric capabilities as well as the conventional 2 capabilities informed by United States readiness 3 and risk assessments and determined by Tai- 4 wan to be required for various wartime sce- 5 narios and peacetime duties; and 6 (B) shall include each item on the list of 7 approved items compiled by the Secretary of 8 Defense pursuant to section 2(b)(4). 9 (3) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of State may 10 exclude an item from the list described in paragraph 11 (1)(A) if the Secretary of State submits to the ap- 12 propriate congressional committees a determination 13 that the costs of providing such items, including the 14 potential costs of technology slippage, exceeds the 15 costs to the United States of failing to arm Taiwan 16 with such items, including the likelihood of being 17 drawn into conflict with the People’s Republic of 18 China. 19 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The list com- 20 piled pursuant to section 2(b)(4) shall not be con- 21 strued as limiting the type, timing, or quantity of 22 items that may be requested by, or sold to, Taiwan 23 under the Foreign Military Sales program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1997 IS (5) FINAL DETERMINATION OF DISPUTES.— 1 The Department of Defense shall serve as the lead 2 Federal agency for purposes of making final deter- 3 minations when disputes arise between agencies 4 about the appropriateness of specific items for sale 5 to Taiwan. 6 (b) PRIORITIZED PROCESSING OF FOREIGN MILI- 7 TARY SALES REQUESTS FROM TAIWAN.— 8 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 9 and the Secretary of State shall prioritize and expe- 10 dite the processing of requests from Taiwan under 11 the Foreign Military Sales program, and may not 12 delay the processing of requests for bundling pur- 13 poses. 14 (2) DURATION.—The requirement under para- 15 graph (1) shall continue until the Secretary of De- 16 fense determines and certifies to the Committee on 17 Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on 18 Armed Services of the House of Representatives that 19 the threat to Taiwan has significantly abated. 20 (3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an- 22 nually thereafter for 10 years, the Secretary of De- 23 fense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Serv- 24 ices of the Senate and the Committee on Armed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1997 IS Services of the House of Representatives a report 1 describing steps taken to implement the requirement 2 under paragraph (1). 3 (c) PRIORITY PRODUCTION.— 4 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 5 shall require that contractors awarded Department 6 of Defense contracts to provide items for sale to Tai- 7 wan under the Foreign Military Sales program shall, 8 as a condition of receiving such contracts, expedite 9 and prioritize the production of such items above the 10 production of other Foreign Military Sales items re- 11 gardless of the order in which contracts were signed. 12 (2) DURATION.—The requirement under para- 13 graph (1) shall continue until the Secretary of De- 14 fense determines and certifies to the Committee on 15 Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on 16 Armed Services of the House of Representatives that 17 the threat to Taiwan has significantly abated. 18 (3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Contractors covered 19 under paragraph (1) shall be required to report an- 20 nually to the Committee on Armed Services of the 21 Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the 22 House of Representatives on efforts to expedite and 23 prioritize production as required under such para- 24 graph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1997 IS (d) INTERAGENCY POLICY.—The Secretary of State 1 and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly review and up- 2 date interagency policies and implementation guidance re- 3 lated to Foreign Military Sales requests from Taiwan, in- 4 cluding incorporating the preclearance and prioritization 5 provisions of this section. 6 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT. 7 (a) POLICY.—Section 2(b)(5) of the Taiwan Rela- 8 tions Act (22 U.S.C. 3301(b)(5)) is amended by striking 9 ‘‘arms of a defensive character’’ and inserting ‘‘arms con- 10 ducive to the deterrence of acts of aggression by the Peo- 11 ple’s Liberation Army’’. 12 (b) PROVISION OF DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERV- 13 ICES.—Section 3(a) of the Taiwan Relations Act (22 14 U.S.C. 3302(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘such defense ar- 15 ticles and defense services in such quantity as may be nec- 16 essary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-de- 17 fense capability’’ and inserting ‘‘such defense articles and 18 defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to 19 enable Taiwan to implement a strategy to deter acts of 20 aggression by the People’s Liberation Army and to deny 21 an invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army’’. 22 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 4 of the Tai- 23 wan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3303) is amended by adding 24 at the end the following new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1997 IS ‘‘(e) SECURITY COOPERATION AND DETERRENCE OF 1 USE OF FORCE BY PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY.—Noth- 2 ing in this Act, nor the facts of the President’s action in 3 extending diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic 4 of China, the absence of diplomatic relations between the 5 people of Taiwan and the United States, or the lack of 6 formal recognition by the United States, and attendant 7 circumstances thereto, shall be construed to constitute a 8 legal or practical obstacle to any otherwise lawful action 9 of the President or of any United States Government 10 agency that is needed to advance or protect United States 11 interests pertaining to Taiwan, including actions intended 12 to strengthen security cooperation between the United 13 States and Taiwan or to otherwise deter the use of force 14 against Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army.’’. 15 SEC. 5. MILITARY PLANNING MECHANISM. 16 The Secretary of Defense shall establish a high-level 17 military planning mechanism between the United States 18 and Taiwan to oversee a Joint and Combined Exercise 19 Program and coordinate International Military Education 20 and Training assistance and professional exchanges aimed 21 at determining and coordinating the acquisition of capa- 22 bilities for both United States and Taiwan military forces 23 to address the needs of currently anticipated and future 24 contingencies. The mechanism may be modeled after the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1997 IS Joint United States Military Advisory Group Thailand, or 1 any such similar existing arrangement, as determined by 2 the Secretary of Defense. 3 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA. 4 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall 5 require any contractor awarded a Department of Defense 6 contract, as a condition of receiving such contract, not to 7 conduct any business in the People’s Republic of China 8 with any entity that is owned by or controlled by the Gov- 9 ernment of the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese 10 Communist Party, or any subsidiary of such a company. 11 (b) DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—If the 12 Secretary of Defense determines that a Department of De- 13 fense contractor is noncompliant with the requirement in 14 subsection (a)— 15 (1) such noncompliance shall be considered 16 grounds for termination of the contract; and 17 (2) the Secretary of Defense shall terminate the 18 contract. 19 SEC. 7. TAIWAN CRITICAL MUNITIONS ACQUISITION FUND. 20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established in 21 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund to be 22 known as the ‘‘Taiwan Critical Munitions Acquisition 23 Fund’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1997 IS (b) PURPOSE.—Subject to the availability of appro- 1 priations, amounts in the Fund shall be made available 2 by the Secretary of Defense— 3 (1) to ensure that adequate stocks of critical 4 munitions necessary for a denial defense are avail- 5 able to allies and partners of the United States in 6 advance of a potential operation to defend the au- 7 tonomy and territory of Taiwan; and 8 (2) to finance the acquisition of critical muni- 9 tions necessary for a denial defense in advance of 10 the transfer of such munitions to foreign countries 11 for such a potential operation. 12 (c) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—Subject to the avail- 13 ability of appropriations, the Secretary of Defense may 14 also use amounts made available to the Fund— 15 (1) to keep on continuous order munitions that 16 the Secretary of Defense considers critical due to a 17 reduction in current stocks as a result of the draw- 18 down of stocks provided to the government of one or 19 more foreign countries; or 20 (2) with the concurrence of the Secretary of 21 State, to procure munitions identified as having a 22 high-use rate. 23 (d) DEPOSITS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1997 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall consist of 1 each of the following: 2 (A) Collections from sales made under let- 3 ters of offer (or transfers made under the For- 4 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 5 seq.)) of munitions acquired using amounts 6 made available from the Fund pursuant to this 7 section, representing the value of such items 8 calculated, as applicable, in accordance with— 9 (i) subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 10 21(a)(1) of the Arms Export Control Act 11 (22 U.S.C. 2761(a)(1)); 12 (ii) section 22 of the Arms Export 13 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2762); or 14 (iii) section 644(m) of the Foreign As- 15 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2403(m)). 16 (B) Such amounts as may be appropriated 17 pursuant to the authorization under this section 18 or otherwise made available for the purposes of 19 the Fund. 20 (C) Not more than $2,000,000,000 may be 21 transferred to the Fund for any fiscal year, in 22 accordance with subsection (e), from amounts 23 authorized to be appropriated for the Depart- 24 ment of Defense in such amounts as the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS [Text truncated for display. 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