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Fox News Op-Ed: Gallagher & Sullivan: Ukraine war offers vital lessons on deterring China from invading Taiwan

The Chinese Communist Party may undertake a violent military invasion of the island democracy of Taiwan – the global fulcrum between democracy and dictatorships – as soon as the next five years.

That’s the assessment of Adm. Phil Davidson, former U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief, in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last year. Other experts see an invasion happening even sooner, but most agree that unless serious measures are taken, such an invasion is inevitable.

We believe that whether that invasion comes in five years, or this year, it’s imperative that the United States prepares now.

In both the Senate and the House, we introduced the Sanctions Targeting Aggressors of Neighboring Democracies (STAND) with Taiwan Act of 2022, which would mandate comprehensive and devastating economic and financial sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leaders and key sectors of China’s economy if the Chinese People’s Liberation Army initiates a military invasion of the island democracy of Taiwan….

The goal of our legislation is to make the Chinese Communist Party a global economic pariah if President Xi Jinping chooses to militarily invade Taiwan….

Our values of freedom, innovation, the rule of law, individual rights and openness are what Xi and Putin most fear, particularly when these values take hold among neighboring populations in places like Ukraine and Taiwan.

We must be ready as democracies to defend these values or risk a world increasingly governed by autocracy, surveillance, aggression and permanent conflict. The STAND with Taiwan Act will help us do just that.

Read the full op-ed from Senator Sullivan and Mike Gallagher at Fox News.