Editing Taiwan Relations Act (section)

===''De facto'' diplomatic relations===
The act authorizes ''[[de facto]]'' [[diplomatic relations]] with the governing authorities by giving special powers to the AIT to the level that it is the [[de facto embassy|''de facto'' embassy]], and states that any international agreements made between the ROC and U.S. before 1979 are still valid unless otherwise terminated. One agreement that was [[unilateral]]ly terminated by President [[Jimmy Carter]] upon the establishment of relations with the PRC was the [[Sino-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 and [[recognition (diplomacy)|recognition]] will have no effect.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive_Index/Taiwan_Relations_Act.html Taiwan Relations Act: Public Law 96-8 96th Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518032145/https://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive_Index/Taiwan_Relations_Act.html |date=2008-05-18 }} Sec. 4 under APPLICATION OF LAWS; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS</ref>