Ted Cruz again proposes allowing Taiwan servicemen to wear uniforms in U.S.

Washington, Oct. 20 (CNA) U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Monday reintroduced a bill that would allow Taiwanese diplomats and military personnel to display the Taiwan flag and wear uniforms while in the United States on official business.

The draft bill, obtained by CNA, is titled "The Taiwan Symbols of Sovereignty (Taiwan SOS) Act" and seeks to permit Taiwan armed forces and government officials "to display symbols of Republic of China [Taiwan] sovereignty," including the national flag and corresponding emblems or insignia of military units.

If the bill becomes law, it would reverse a decision made in 2015 by the administration of then U.S. President Barack Obama on the issue.

The 2015 decision followed strong protests by the Chinese embassy in Washington and criticism by the American government of a flag-raising ceremony that was held on New Year's Day at Twin Oaks Estate, which was the residence of Republic of China (Taiwan) representatives to the U.S. before the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with the ROC in 1979.

It was the first time in 36 years that the ROC had held a national flag-raising ceremony at Twin Oaks, a move that the U.S. said was inconsistent with its One-China policy, which formally recognizes China instead of Taiwan, a diplomatic source told CNA.

The Obama administration, therefore, revised the U.S. guidelines on exchanges with Taiwan, barring Taiwanese diplomats from entering U.S. Department of State facilities, prohibiting the raising of the Taiwan flag at Twin Oaks, and restricting any display of the flag on U.S. government property, the source said.

On Monday, Cruz was cited as saying that he did not support that stance and had been trying for years to change it.

"The Obama administration did enormous damage to American national security when it first implemented these prohibitions against our Taiwanese allies, and I have been battling this policy ever since," Cruz was quoted as saying in the National Review, an American conservative magazine.

He said the guidelines were revoked during the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, but were reinstated after President Joe Biden took office, "to the detriment of the safety and security of Americans and our allies."

"There has been broad, explicit bipartisan support for rescinding these prohibitions, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has advanced this language to do so. I am confident they will do so again, and I call on my colleagues in the Senate to advance it to passage," he was quoted as saying in the National Review report.

Cruz had proposed similar bills in 2020 and 2022, which were reviewed by the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee but were not passed.