US prohibits maps depicting Taiwan 'inaccurately'

The United States House of Representatives passed an appropriation bill on Wednesday that would prohibit the use of any maps by the US State Department and its foreign operations that "inaccurately" depict Taiwan.

The bill passed on Wednesday (local time) stipulates that "none of the funds made available by this Act should be used to create, procure, or display any map that inaccurately depicts the territory and social and economic system of Taiwan and the islands or island groups administered by Taiwan authorities," reported Focus Taiwan.

The bill is dubbed the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022. It, however, does not specify what constitutes an accurate portrayal of Taiwan on maps.

The single bill was approved by the House as part of a USD 1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill, which is also referred to as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, in bipartisan votes on Wednesday evening and will be sent to the Senate for approval.

The appropriation bill pertaining to the U.S. foreign assistance first passed the House in July 2021 by a vote of 217 to 212, but it did not move beyond the Senate and was instead packaged in the omnibus spending bill after some revisions were made to it, reported Focus Taiwan.

Tom Tiffany, one of the Republican representatives who proposed the amendment, commented that the revision would "require honest maps that stop perpetuating the 'one China' lie."

Tiffany was referring to the US "one China" policy, which he said acknowledged "Beijing's bogus argument that Taiwan is part of Communist China" and should be abandoned, reported Focus Taiwan.

Under the "one China" policy, the US acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

( With inputs from ANI )