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Taiwan Relations Act

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Taiwan Relations Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn act to help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and for other purposes.
Acronyms(colloquial)TRA
Enacted bythe96th United States Congress
EffectiveJanuary 1, 1979
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)96–8
Statutes at Large93Stat.14
Codification
Titles amended22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C.sections created22 U.S.C.ch. 48§ 3301 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introducedin the House as "United States-Taiwan Relations Act" (H.R. 2479byClement J. Zablocki(D–WI) on February 28, 1979
  • Committee considerationbyHouse Foreign Affairs
  • Passed the Houseon March 13, 1979 (345–55)
  • Passed the Senateon March 14, 1979 (90–6)
  • Reported by the joint conference committeeon March 24, 1979;agreed to by the Houseon March 28, 1979 (339–50) and by theSenateon March 29, 1979 (85–4)
  • Signed into lawby PresidentJimmy Carteron April 10, 1979

TheTaiwan Relations Act(TRA;Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)96–8,H.R. 2479,93Stat.14,enactedApril 10, 1979) is anactof theUnited States Congress.Since theformal recognitionof thePeople's Republic of China,the Act has defined the officially substantial but non-diplomatic relations between theUnited States of AmericaandTaiwan(Republic of China).

Background

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In 1978, theChinese Communist Party(CCP) administration of thePeople's Republic of Chinaclaimed to be in a "united front"with the U.S., Japan, and western Europe against theSovietsand thusestablished diplomatic relations with the United Statesin 1979. The CCP also supported AmericanOperation Cycloneactions inCommunist Afghanistanand leveleda military expeditionagainst Vietnam, America's main antagonist in Southeast Asia. In exchange for this consideration by the CCP, theCarter administrationcancelled theSino-American Mutual Defense Treaty(SAMDT) with theRepublic of China(ROC).

The ROC government mobilized theChina Lobbyin the United States to lobby Congress for the swift passage of an American security guarantee for the island.[1][2]Taiwan could appeal to members of Congress on many fronts:anti-communistChina sentiment, a shared wartime history with the ROC,Beijing's human rights violations(despitecommitting violations of its own) and itscurtailment of religious freedoms.[3][4]

SenatorBarry Goldwaterand other members of theUnited States Congresschallenged the right of PresidentJimmy Carterto cancel SAMDT unilaterally, which the US had signed with the ROC in December 1954 and was ratified by theU.S. Senatein February 1955. Goldwater and his co-filers of theUS Supreme CourtcaseGoldwater v. Carterargued that the President required Senate approval to take such an action of termination, underArticle II, Section IIof theU.S. Constitution,and that by not doing so, President Carter had acted beyond the powers of his office. The case ultimately was dismissed as non-justiciable and left open the constitutional question regarding a president's authority to dismiss a treaty unilaterally.[5]

The Act was passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Carter in 1979 after the breaking of relations between the US and the ROC. Congress rejected theU.S. State Department's proposed draft and replaced it with language that has remained in effect since 1979. The TRA is intended to maintain commercial, cultural, and other relations through the unofficial relations in the form of a nonprofit corporation incorporated under the laws of theDistrict of Columbia,theAmerican Institute in Taiwan(AIT), without official government representation or formal diplomatic relations.[6]The Act entered retroactively into force, effective January 1, 1979.

Provisions

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Definition of Taiwan

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The act does not recognize the terminology of "Republic of China" after 1 January 1979, but uses the terminology of "governing authorities on Taiwan". Geographically speaking and following the similar content in the earlierdefense treatyfrom 1955, it defines the term "Taiwan" to include, as the context may require, theisland of Taiwan(the main Island) and thePescadores(Penghu). Ofthe other islands or archipelagosunder the control of the Republic of China,Kinmen,theMatsus,etc., are left outside the definition of Taiwan.[7]

De factodiplomatic relations

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The act authorizesde factodiplomatic relationswith the governing authorities by giving special powers to the AIT to the level that it is thede factoembassy,and states that any international agreements made between the ROC and U.S. before 1979 are still valid unless otherwise terminated. One agreement that wasunilaterallyterminated by PresidentJimmy Carterupon the establishment of relations with the PRC was theSino-American Mutual Defense Treaty.

The TRA provides for Taiwan to be treated under U.S. laws the same as "foreign countries, nations, states, governments, or similar entities", thus treating Taiwan as a sub-sovereign foreign state equivalent. The act provides that for most practical purposes of the U.S. government, the absence of diplomatic relations andrecognitionwill have no effect.[8]

Military provisions

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See also:List of US arms sales to Taiwan

The TRA does not guarantee or relinquish the U.S. intervening militarily if the PRC attacks or invades Taiwan, as its primary purpose is to ensure that the Taiwan policy will not be changed unilaterally by the U.S. president and ensure any decision to defend Taiwan will be made with the consent of the Congress. The act states that "the United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability" and "shall maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan".[9]However, the decision about the nature and quantity of defense services that America will provide to Taiwan is to be determined by the President and Congress. America's policy has been called "strategic ambiguity,"and it is designed to dissuade Taiwan from a unilateral declaration of independence, and to dissuade the PRC from unilaterally unifying Taiwan with the PRC.[citation needed]

The TRA further stipulates that the United States will "consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, including byboycottsorembargoes,a threat to thepeaceandsecurityof theWestern Pacificarea and of grave concern to the United States ".

The TRA requires the United States to have a policy "to provide Taiwan witharmsof adefensivecharacter "and" to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms ofcoercionthat would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan ".

Successive U.S. administrations have sold arms to Taiwan despite demands from the PRC that the U.S. followThree Joint Communiquésand the U.S. government's proclaimedOne-China policy.

Reaction and reaffirmation

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The TRA's passage caused Chinese leaderDeng Xiaopingto begin viewing the United States as an insincere partner willing to abandon its previous commitments to China.[10]

Reagan administration

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See also:Six Assurances

The PRC aligned itself with theThird Worldcountries rather than with the United States or the Soviet Union, engaging itself in various movements such asnuclear non-proliferationthat would allow it to critique thesuperpowers.[3]In theAugust 17th communiqueof 1982, the United States agreed to reduce arms sales to Taiwan. However, it also declared that it would not formally recognize PRC'ssovereigntyover Taiwan, as part of theReagan administration'sSix Assurancesoffered to Taipei in 1982.

Clinton administration

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In the late 1990s, theUnited States Congresspassed anon-binding resolutionstating that relations between Taiwan and the United States will be honored through the TRA first. This resolution, which puts greater weight on the TRA's value over that of the three communiques, was signed by PresidentBill Clinton.[11][12]Both chambers of Congress have repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of the TRA.[13]

Since 2000

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A July 2007 Congressional Research Service Report confirmed that U.S. policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan.[14]The PRC continues to view the TRA as "an unwarranted intrusion by the United States into the internal affairs of China".[15]The United States has continued to supply Taiwan with armaments and China has continued to protest.[16]

Bipartisan affirmation (2016)

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On 19 May 2016, one day beforeTsai Ing-wenassumed the democratically electedpresidency of the Republic of China,U.S. SenatorsMarco Rubio(R-FL), a member of theSenate Foreign Relations CommitteeandSenate Select Committee on IntelligenceandBob Menendez(D-NJ), former chair of theSenate Foreign Relations Committeeand co-chair of theSenate Taiwan Caucus,introduced a concurrent resolution reaffirming the TRA and the "Six Assurances"as cornerstones ofUnited States–Taiwan relations.[17][18][19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Ling, Huping; Austin, Allan W. (17 March 2015).Asian American History and Culture.Routledge. p. 142.ISBN978-1-317-47645-0.
  2. ^Newsom, David D. (1996).The Public Dimension of Foreign Policy.Indiana University Press. p. 191.ISBN978-0-253-21024-1.
  3. ^abDittmer, Lowell (2001). "Reform and Chinese foreign policy". In Zhao, Jianmin; Dickson, Bruce (eds.).Remaking the Chinese State: Strategies, Society, and Security.Routledge. p. 179.
  4. ^ROBERT GREEN,Mixed Signals,Taiwan Today,07/01/2009
  5. ^China Mutual Defense (1954),American Institute in Taiwan
  6. ^April 10, 1979: Taiwan Relations Act Statement on Signing H.R. 2479 Into Law,UCSD
  7. ^Trần hồng du (July 20, 2008).Đài Loan pháp luật địa vị chi diễn biến ( 1973-2005 )(PDF)(Report).Đài Bắc huyện:Đạm giang đại học Đông Nam Á viện nghiên cứu. p. 9.Đối với Đài Loan định nghĩa là quy định ở thứ 15 điều đệ nhị khoản: “Đài Loan một từ: Bao gồm Đài Loan đảo cập bành hồ quần đảo, này đó trên đảo cư dân, căn cứ này chờ đảo sở thực thi pháp luật mà thành lập công ty hoặc mặt khác pháp nhân, cùng với 1979 năm 1 nguyệt 1 ngày trước nước Mỹ sở thừa nhận vì Trung Hoa dân quốc Đài Loan thống trị đương cục cùng bất luận cái gì kế vị thống trị đương cục ( bao gồm này chính trị cùng chấp chính cơ cấu. )” do đó cũng biết, Đài Loan quan hệ pháp sở quy phạm Đài Loan chỉ bao gồm Đài Loan cùng bành hồ quần đảo, cũng không bao gồm Kim Môn, mã tổ ngoại hạng đảo.
  8. ^Taiwan Relations Act: Public Law 96-8 96th CongressArchived2008-05-18 at theWayback MachineSec. 4 under APPLICATION OF LAWS; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
  9. ^https:// congress.gov/96/statute/STATUTE-93/STATUTE-93-Pg14.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  10. ^Zhao, Suisheng (2023).The dragon roars back: transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy.Stanford, California:Stanford University Press.p. 55.ISBN978-1-5036-3415-2.OCLC1332788951.
  11. ^H.Con.Res.56 - Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act.,Congress.gov,3/17/1999
  12. ^H.Con.Res.53 - Concerning the Taiwan Relations Act.,Congress.gov,3/11/1999
  13. ^H.Con.Res.117 - Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Government should reaffirm its unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act as the cornerstone of United States relations with Taiwan, and for other purposes.,Congress.gov,3/25/2003
  14. ^CRS Report to Congress
  15. ^Embassy of the People's Republic of China: China opposes US congress' resolution on Taiwan(19/07/2004)
  16. ^The Editorial Board (December 24, 2015)."China's Tantrum on Taiwan Arms Deal".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 25,2015.The new arms package, which includes two navy frigates, antitank missiles, combat systems for minesweepers, amphibious attack vehicles and communications systems....
  17. ^Menendez, Rubio: "Six Assurances" Continued Foundation of U.S.-Taiwan Relations,SenatorBob Menendez,May 19, 2016
  18. ^Rubio, Menendez: ‘Six Assurances’ Continued Foundation Of U.S.-Taiwan Relations,SenatorMarco Rubio,May 19, 2016
  19. ^S.Con.Res.38 - A concurrent resolution reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as cornerstones of United States-Taiwan relations.,Congress.gov,May 19, 2016
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