House Panel Approves Measures to Support Taiwan Against China’s Aggression

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Hoping to deter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from invading the neighboring self-ruled island of Taiwan, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee has approved several pieces of legislation that would impose economic restrictions on CCP officials and influence international bodies to put pressure on China.

All seven bills at the Feb. 28 committee hearing that pertained to China and Taiwan passed without opposition. The bills now head to Congress.

A Strategy of Deterrence

Some of the proposed bills—even if passed—wouldn’t take effect unless the president were to declare a Chinese threat to Taiwan. If that declaration were made, the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act would authorize the Department of the Treasury to bar U.S. financial institutions from doing business with top CCP officials and their family members.