; and (ii) to prevent United States access to key trade routes and markets in the Indo-Pacific region, thereby imposing severe economic hardship on middle-class and working-class people of the United States and undermining the American way of life. (3) In January 2019, the Defense Intelligence Agency assessed that the longstanding intent of the Government of the People’s Republic of China to compel the unification of Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China, and deter any attempt by Taiwan to declare independence, was the primary driver for China’s military modernization . (4) The Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report released in June 2019, states that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the mainland by force, while simultaneously deterring, delaying, or denying any third-party intervention on Taiwan’s behalf . (5) Department of Defense statements and publications indicate that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is developing the plans and capabilities required to employ the fait accompli strategy to compel the unification of Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China, including— (A) the assessment by the Defense Science Board in 2017 that the Government of the People’s Republic of China had adopted a theory of victory whereby once conflict with the United States appeared inevitable, as might be the case if the Government of the People’s Republic of China attempted to use military force to compel the unification of Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China, then the Government of the People’s Republic of China will attempt to achieve a decisive outcome very quickly, presenting the United States and its allies with a fait accompli and then seek to demonstrate that the United States and its allies will incur significant costs in seeking to reverse that outcome