China claims the democratically governed island as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Beijing has stepped up military and political pressure against the island in recent years. The U.S. State Department says the U.S. position on Taiwan has not changed and that Washington opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. Analysts say China would particularly like the Trump administration to state explicitly that it opposes Taiwan’s independence rather than say, as did the Biden administration, that it did not support it. Risch’s bill is one of several legislative initiatives in the Senate and House of Representatives that supporters say underscore support in Congress for continuing to take a hard line against any Chinese moves on Taiwan.