,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bfhd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,september #b1 
#bjbe,mr4 ,merkley 7for himself1 ,mr4   
,curtis1 ,mr4 ,kaine1 and ,mr4          
,ricketts7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations
  ,a ,,bill  ,to support countries in   
,latin ,america and the ,caribbean that 
maintain official diplomatic relations  
with ,taiwan1 to counter efforts by the 
,people's ,republic of ,china to coerce 
or pressure governments into breaking   
such ties1 to deepen coordination with  
,taiwan on diplomatic1 development1 and 
economic engagement in the ,western     
,hemisphere1 and for other purposes4    
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,united ,states-,taiwan         
,partnership in the ,americas ,act4  #b4
 ,findings ,congress finds the          
following3 7#a7 ,taiwan is a democratic 
partner of the ,united ,states1 and     
countries that maintain ties with       

,taiwan often share our ,nation's       
commitment to transparency1 good        
governance1 and human rights4  7#b7 ,the
 ,people's ,republic of ,china has      
pressured ,taiwan's remaining #g        
diplomatic allies in ,latin ,america and
 the ,caribbean to sever diplomatic     
relations with ,taiwan by leveraging    
opaque development deals and backroom   
pressure4  7#c7 ,the ,united ,states has
 an interest in ensuring countries in   
,latin ,america and the ,caribbean can  
make sovereign foreign policy decisions 
free from coercion or financial         
manipulation by the ,people's ,republic 
of ,china4  #c4 ,statement of policy ,it
 is the policy of the ,united ,states-- 
7#a7 to support countries in ,latin     
,america and the ,caribbean that        
maintain diplomatic relations with      
,taiwan2  7#b7 to counter efforts by the
 ,people's ,republic of ,china to coerce
 or pressure governments in the region  
into breaking diplomatic ties with      
,taiwan2 and  7#c7 to deepen            

coordination with ,taiwan on its        
development and economic engagement in  
the ,western ,hemisphere4  #d4          
,monitoring the economic influence of   
the ,people's ,republic of ,china  7a7  
,infrastructure influence risk mechanism
 ,the ,secretary of ,state shall        
establish a mechanism to track and      
respond to infrastructure and           
development projects by the ,people's   
,republic of ,china in countries that   
maintain diplomatic relations with      
,taiwan4  7b7 ,functions ,the mechanism 
required under subsection 7a7 shall--   
7#a7 identify projects referred to in   
such subsection that carry strategic    
risks or involve non-transparent        
financing2  7#b7 coordinate appropriate 
,united ,states diplomatic or technical 
responses to such projects2 and  7#c7   
share relevant information with         
,congress and with ,united ,states      
allies4  #e4 ,reporting requirements    
7a7 ,semiannual status report ,the      
,secretary of ,state shall submit       

semiannual status reports to the        
,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the
 ,senate and the ,committee on ,foreign 
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives regarding governments  
in ,latin ,america that have taken steps
 to discontinue diplomatic relations    
with ,taiwan4  7b7 ,diplomatic          
engagement plan ,if the ,secretary of   
,state determines that a government in a
 country referred to in subsection 7a7  
is taking steps to terminate diplomatic 
relations with ,taiwan1 the ,secretary1 
not later than #cj days after such      
determination1 shall submit a report to 
the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of
 the ,senate and the ,committee on      
,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of      
,representatives that includes a        
detailed plan to support the maintenance
 of official diplomatic relations       
between such government and ,taiwan4    
7c7 ,annual report  7#a7 ,in general    
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 and     

annually thereafter for the following #e
 years1 the ,secretary of ,state shall  
submit a report to the ,committee on    
,foreign ,relations of the ,senate and  
the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of  
the ,house of ,representatives that     
includes-- 7,a7 an assessment of the    
goals1 investments1 and interests of the
 ,people's ,republic of ,china in ,latin
 ,america and the ,caribbean that       
maintain diplomatic relations with      
,taiwan2  7,b7 an overview of the       
pressure tactics and influence campaigns
 carried out by the ,people' s ,republic
 of ,china in countries in ,latin       
,america and the ,caribbean that        
maintain diplomatic relations with      
,taiwan2 and  7,c7 the actions taken by 
the ,department of ,state during the    
most recent #ab-month period to         
implement this ,act by-- 7i7 supporting 
,taiwan's diplomatic partners in ,latin 
,america and the ,caribbean2 and  7ii7  
countering the efforts of the ,people's 
,republic of ,china to isolate ,taiwan  

from its ,latin ,american and ,caribbean
 allies4  7#b7 ,form ,each report       
required under paragraph 7#a7 shall be  
submitted in unclassified form1 but may 
include a classified annex4  #f4        
,taiwan-,americas strategic coordination
 ,the ,secretary of ,state should take  
steps to expand ,united ,states         
coordination with countries in ,latin   
,america and the ,caribbean with respect
 to ,taiwan by-- 7#a7 coordinating joint
 programming and technical cooperation  
with ,united ,states allies2  7#b7      
aligning public diplomacy efforts2 and  
7#c7 encouraging collaboration between  
,united ,states embassies and ,taiwan's 
representative offices in ,latin        
,america and the ,caribbean4