Duckworth Calls for a Decisive U.S. Response to the PRC’s Weaponization of Air Travel to Help Protect Safety of Global Flying Public
At a Senate nominations hearing, Duckworth warned that pressure on Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles over Taiwan’s flight routes could threaten international air travel.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC)—stressed the urgent need for the U.S. to support Taiwan amidst the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) desperate attempts to isolate the island and pressure countries across Africa to violate international rules, norms and safety standards in the process. At the nominations hearing for Marc Dillard to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar, Duckworth informed Mr. Dillard that our partners in Taiwan raised concerns during her recent travels to the island about how Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles alarmingly refused to let Taiwan’s president fly through the airspace they manage this spring, at the behest of the PRC. The Senator warned Mr. Dillard of the risks to future international air travelers and urged him to prioritize countering future PRC pressure on the Malagasy government, if confirmed. Full video of Duckworth’s remarks can be found on the Senator’s YouTube page.
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“By bullying countries into restricting the Taiwanese president’s flight paths, the PRC is endangering everyone who travels internationally,” said Duckworth. “If the PRC’s tactics go unanswered, it’s not hard to imagine President Xi’s next target being a jet carrying civilians or critical air imports to Taipei, Manila or another capital that sparks his ire. The U.S. has to be the leading voice pushing our partners to uphold international rules and pushing back when the PRC bucks these rules to try and strangle our democratically-elected partners, especially Taiwan.”
Duckworth is a proven leader when it comes to strengthening our relations with Indo-Pacific nations and improving security in the region—which she has done while successfully securing significant international investments in Illinois. This fall, she introduced bipartisan legislation to improve our nation’s capabilities to counter the PRC “gray-zone” intimidation and coercion tactics in the Indo-Pacific. In July, Duckworth became first U.S. Senator to visit Taiwan since the disastrous first Trump-Xi summit where Donald Trump kowtowed to PRC President Xi Jinping and waffled on delivering a critical bipartisan arms package. Upon her arrival, Duckworth penned an op-ed underscoring that the United States’ commitment to Taiwan is steadfast—regardless of who is in the White House. She also made an official visit to Japan during the same trip to strengthen economic ties between our nations, specifically in Illinois, so our nations’ trade ties can remain resilient despite PRC gray-zone activities.
The Senator is also leading numerous additional pieces of legislation that would help the U.S. and our Indo-Pacific partners be better prepared to deter PRC coercion, including through her bipartisan Strategy for Crisis Management Act and South China Sea Strategy Actthat both recently passed committee and now await a full Senate vote. Her Strategy for Crisis Management Act was one of several provisions she secured in this year’s committee-passed NDAA to enhance our readiness and coordination with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. This provision would help deescalate consequential crises short of war in the South China Sea. Among Duckworth’s other wins are provisions that would drive cooperation with Indo-Pacific allies and partners on asymmetric operations and improve medical preparedness and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
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