Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) to introduce the Deter PRC Aggression Against Taiwan Act. This bill establishes an interagency task force to identify Chinese military and non-military targets for sanctions, export controls, and other economic measures the United States could rapidly impose if the People’s Republic of China (PRC) moves to invade Taiwan or overthrow the island’s government.
“Taiwan is a crucial U.S. partner standing at the forefront of our shared fight for democracy,” said Bennet. “As the PRC escalates its coercive tactics against Taiwan, this bill builds upon our experience imposing sanctions on Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to deter the PRC by ensuring that the United States stands ready to inflict costs on the PRC if Beijing wields military force against Taiwan or tries to overthrow its government.”
“China’s escalating coercive actions are part of its strategy to intimidate Taiwan and other countries in Asia into submission—but we won’t allow our friends to be bullied. Using lessons learned from the challenges in U.S. and partner country sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, this legislation will ensure America is prepared to hit China where it hurts should China follow through on its threats to use violent force against Taiwan,” said Risch.
Specifically, this bill will establish a China Sanctions Task Force led by the Departments of State and Treasury to:
- Identify sanctions targets and economic actions the U.S. can impose immediately following any effort from China to take physical or political control of Taiwan, such as by overthrowing Taiwan’s government, occupying Taiwanese territory, conducting a naval blockade of Taiwan, and perpetrating a significant physical or cyberattack against Taiwan, among other measures;
- Assess resource gaps and new authorities needed to most effectively use sanctions and other economic tools to respond to China’s coercive actions;
- Coordinate, as much as possible, with allies and partners; and
- Brief Congress and provide an annual report on the work of the Task Force that includes recommendations to more effectively use sanctions to respond to China’s coercive and malign actions.
In April 2025, Bennet introduced legislation to bolster Taiwan’s international standing amid PRC efforts to diplomatically isolate Taiwan. In May, Bennet introduced legislation to streamline the process for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and legislation to strengthen the State Department’s Taiwan strategy to ensure that the Department remains agile enough to counter Beijing’s saber-rattling. In January, Bennet introduced legislation to provide expedited double-tax relief on U.S.-Taiwan cross-border investment and authorize the President to negotiate a tax agreement with Taiwan to provide broader bilateral tax relief.
In addition to Bennet and Risch, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) cosponsored the bill.
The text of the bill is available HERE.