Police officers wearing face masks guard the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2020.
Photo: Reuters

The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee yesterday passed its version of the US annual defense policy bill — the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023 — which includes provisions for enhancing military ties with Taiwan.

The committee passed the draft bill in a 57-to-one vote early in the morning, following 16 hours of debate.

A view of China’s Xiamen taken from Kinmen County’s Lieyu Township is pictured in an undated photograph.
Photo: Taipei Times

Critics accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of being oblivious to national security concerns after he proposed constructing a bridge to link Kinmen and China’s Xiamen (廈門).

Ko, who is also the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, made the proposal when presiding over the opening ceremony of the party’s office in Kinmen on Saturday.

Service personnel from the navy’s first minelaying squadron are pictured in an undated photograph during training at Kaohsiung’s Zuoying naval base.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency

China’s sovereignty claim over the Taiwan Strait is false, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that the only waters a country has full sovereignty over are the 12 nautical miles (22km) around its territory.

Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) reiterated that the government considers the Taiwan Strait to be international waters, except for the 12-nautical-mile strip defined as territorial waters.