I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1173 

To authorize the President to use military force for the purpose of securing 

and defending Taiwan against armed attack, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

Mr. RESCHENTHALER (for himself, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. 

CRENSHAW, Mr. PERRY, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. TIFFANY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Ways and 

Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to use military force for the 

purpose of securing and defending Taiwan against armed 

attack, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Invasion Pre5 vention Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION FOR 

2 USE OF UNITED STATES 

3 ARMED FORCES 

4 SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Taiwan is a free and prosperous democracy 

7 of nearly 24,000,000 people and an important con8 tributor to peace and stability around the world. 

9 (2) Section 2(b) of the Taiwan Relations Act 

10 (Public Law 96–8; 22 U.S.C. 3301(b)) states that it 

11 is the policy of the United States— 

12 (A) ‘‘to preserve and promote extensive, 

13 close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and 

14 other relations between the people of the United 

15 States and the people on Taiwan, as well as the 

16 people on the China mainland and all other peo17 ples of the Western Pacific area’’; 

18 (B) ‘‘to declare that peace and stability in 

19 the area are in the political, security, and eco20 nomic interests of the United States, and are 

21 matters of international concern’’; 

22 (C) ‘‘to make clear that the United States 

23 decision to establish diplomatic relations with 

24 the People’s Republic of China rests upon the 


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1 expectation that the future of Taiwan will be 

2 determined by peaceful means’’; 

3 (D) ‘‘to consider any effort to determine 

4 the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful 

5 means, including by boycotts or embargoes, a 

6 threat to the peace and security of the Western 

7 Pacific area and of grave concern to the United 

8 States’’; 

9 (E) ‘‘to provide Taiwan with arms of a de10 fensive character’’; and 

11 (F) ‘‘to maintain the capacity of the 

12 United States to resist any resort to force or 

13 other forms of coercion that would jeopardize 

14 the security, or the social or economic system, 

15 of the people on Taiwan’’. 

16 (3) Since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen 

17 as President of Taiwan in 2016, the Government of 

18 the People’s Republic of China has intensified its ef19 forts to pressure Taiwan through diplomatic isola20 tion and military provocations. 

21 (4) The rapid modernization of the People’s 

22 Liberation Army and recent military maneuvers in 

23 and around the Taiwan Strait illustrate a clear 

24 threat to Taiwan’s security. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

3 (1) both the United States and Taiwan have 

4 made significant strides since 1979 in bolstering 

5 their defense relationship; 

6 (2) the People’s Republic of China has dramati7 cally increased the capability of its military forces 

8 since 1979; 

9 (3) the People’s Republic of China has in recent 

10 years increased the use of its military forces to har11 ass and provoke Taiwan with the threat of over12 whelming force; and 

13 (4) that it is the policy of the United States to 

14 consider any effort to determine the future of Tai15 wan by anything other than peaceful means, includ16 ing by boycotts or embargoes, a threat to the peace 

17 and security of the Western Pacific area, and of 

18 grave concern to the United States. 

19 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES 

20 ARMED FORCES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to 

22 use the Armed Forces of the United States and take such 

23 other measures as the President determines to be nec24 essary and appropriate in order to secure and protect Tai25 wan against the following: 


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1 (1) Direct armed attack by the military forces 

2 of the People’s Republic of China against the mili3 tary forces of Taiwan. 

4 (2) The taking of territory under the effective 

5 jurisdiction of Taiwan by the military forces of the 

6 People’s Republic of China. 

7 (3) The endangering of the lives of members of 

8 the military forces of Taiwan or civilians within the 

9 effective jurisdiction of Taiwan in cases in which 

10 such members or civilians have been killed or are in 

11 imminent danger of being killed. 

12 (b) WAR POWERS RESOLUTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 (1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION.— 

14 Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers 

15 Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is 

16 intended to constitute specific statutory authoriza17 tion within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War 

18 Powers Resolution. 

19 (2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIRE20 MENTS.—Nothing in this Act supersedes any re21 quirement of the War Powers Resolution. 

22 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con23 gress that, at the earliest possible date after the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act, the President should release 

25 a public declaration that it is the policy of the United 


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1 States to secure and protect Taiwan against the actions 

2 of the People’s Republic of China described in paragraphs 

3 (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a). 

4 (d) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

5 United States to demand that the People’s Republic of 

6 China officially renounce the use or threat of military 

7 force in any attempt to unify with Taiwan. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION PERIOD.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorization for use of 

10 the Armed Forces under this section shall expire on 

11 the date that is 5 years after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

14 Congress that the authorization for use of the 

15 Armed Forces under this section should be reauthor16 ized by a subsequent Act of Congress. 

17 TITLE II—OTHER MATTERS 

18 SEC. 201. REGIONAL SECURITY DIALOGUE TO IMPROVE SE19 CURITY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE WESTERN 

20 PACIFIC AREA. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De23 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the 

24 heads of other relevant Federal agencies as appropriate, 

25 shall seek to convene on an annual basis a regional secuVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:31 Mar 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1173.IH H1173

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1 rity dialogue with the Government of Taiwan and the gov2 ernments of like-minded security partners to improve the 

3 security relationships among the United States and such 

4 countries in the Western Pacific area. 

5 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The regional secu6 rity dialogue may consider matters relating to— 

7 (1) coordinating lower-level military-to-military 

8 dialogue; and 

9 (2) planning for potential military confrontation 

10 scenarios. 

11 SEC. 202. UNITED STATES-TAIWAN BILATERAL TRADE 

12 AGREEMENT. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the United States Trade Representative 

15 should seek to enter into negotiations with representatives 

16 from Taiwan to establish a bilateral trade agreement be17 tween the United States and Taiwan. 

18 SEC. 203. UNITED STATES-TAIWAN COMBINED MILITARY 

19 EXERCISES AND RELATED ACTIONS. 

20 (a) COMBINED MILITARY EXERCISES.—The Sec21 retary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of other 

22 relevant Federal agencies, should seek to carry out a pro23 gram of combined military exercises between the United 

24 States, Taiwan, and, if feasible, United States allies and 


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1 partners to improve military coordination and relations 

2 with Taiwan. 

3 (b) COMBINED DISASTER RELIEF EXERCISES.—The 

4 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of 

5 other relevant Federal agencies, should engage with their 

6 counterparts in Taiwan to organize combined disaster and 

7 humanitarian relief exercises. 

8 (c) TAIWAN STRAIT TRANSITS, FREEDOM OF NAVI9 GATION OPERATIONS, AND PRESENCE OPERATIONS.— 

10 The Secretary of Defense should consider increasing tran11 sits through the Taiwan Strait, Freedom of Navigation 

12 Operations in the Taiwan Strait, and Presence Operations 

13 in the Western Pacific area by the United States Navy, 

14 including in conjunction with United States allies and 

15 partners. 

16 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that Taiwan should dedicate additional domestic re18 sources toward advancing its military readiness for pur19 poses of defending Taiwan, including through— 

20 (1) steady increases in annual defense spending 

21 as a share of gross domestic product (GDP); 

22 (2) procurements of defense technologies that 

23 directly bolster Taiwan’s asymmetric defense capa24 bilities; 


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1 (3) reform of Taiwan’s military reserves, includ2 ing increasing the length of training required and 

3 number of days required in service annually; 

4 (4) participation with United States Armed 

5 Forces in combined military exercises; and 

6 (5) further engagement with the United States 

7 on strengthening Taiwan’s cyber capabilities. 

8 SEC. 204. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR DEFENDING TAI9 WAN. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) the Secretary of State should, given the se12 curity considerations posed by the People’s Republic 

13 of China, accelerate the approval of sales of defense 

14 articles and services to Taiwan for purposes of de15 fending Taiwan; and 

16 (2) the Secretary of Defense should offer sup17 port to Taiwan by— 

18 (A) continuing to send United States mili19 tary advisors to Taiwan for training purposes; 

20 (B) encouraging members of the United 

21 States Armed Forces to enroll in Taiwan’s Na22 tional Defense University; 

23 (C) maintaining a significant United 

24 States naval presence within a close proximity 

25 to Taiwan; and 


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1 (D) reestablishing the Taiwan Patrol 

2 Force under the direction of the United States 

3 Navy. 

4 SEC. 205. HIGH-LEVEL VISITS. 

5 (a) VISIT TO TAIWAN BY PRESIDENT OF THE

6 UNITED STATES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, the President, or, if the 

8 President so designates, the Secretary of State, with inter9 agency consultation and participation as appropriate, 

10 should arrange a meeting with the President of Taiwan 

11 in Taiwan. 

12 (b) VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES BY PRESIDENT

13 OF TAIWAN.—It is the sense of Congress that the United 

14 States would benefit from a meeting between the Presi15 dent or the Secretary of State and the President of Tai16 wan in the United States. 

17 SEC. 206. ADDRESS TO JOINT MEETING OF CONGRESS BY 

18 PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that it would be beneficial 

20 for the United States and Taiwan to invite the President 

21 of Taiwan to address a Joint Meeting of Congress and 

22 subsequently participate in a roundtable discussion with 

23 Members of Congress. 

Æ 


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